Godzilla X Hedorah X Megalon: Earth Under Siege
by BP McClurg
Summary: Following "Godzilla vs Biollante X," a series of man-made catastrophic events has brought about the rise of several giant monsters which are wrecking havoc across the globe. Now our only hope is the one thing we thought was our enemy...Godzilla.
1. Earth Under Siege Part I

Prologue: Birth from the Ashes

(Pripyat, Ukraine: 10:16 am: June 26th, 1986)

Among the naked trees, the burnt brown grass, the ghost town lay still. Nothing moved. Nothing, except for the few who were stirring quietly through the trees. Their footsteps crunched through the dried out grass. The sound of static from their radioactivity meter increased with each step they took, their suits giving off an eerie presence. They looked like ghosts moving through the now-deserted city.

One of them spun around when he heard a twig crack a few meters back. "What was that?"

Another man in a white suit spun around. "What is it?"

The first man looked around, but saw nothing. "Nevermind. Just the sound of things dying."

"Everything is dead here. There's nothing left."

They continued on, the boy in the brush left unnoticed. Getting up slowly, the little boy, no more than eight, waited for them to pass. He still didn't understand why he had to wear that silly gas mask, but his friend Aleksey told him he might need it, just in case.

After they passed out of the trees and in between the buildings, Fillyp crept across the dirt and grass, winding between trees until he came to a stream. The stream trickled a small amount of water, but for the most part it was barren. For as far as he could see, there was nothing but gray. Gray, brown, black…the colors of death. It had been a couple months since the meltdown, and yet Fillyp could swear he still saw ash falling from the sky.

Up ahead, there was a small clearing. Was this the way he had come? Fillyp began to shiver, lost and confused. He was beginning to get scared, when suddenly he heard something move by the side of the stream.

Looking to his left, Fillyp saw a mound of dirt from an uprooted tree. The mound was hollow on one side, and Fillyp saw something move from within. He approached slowly.

First, a tiny white hand of a child came out from around the mound, grasping at a tree root. Next was something Fillyp would never forget for the rest of his life. A head came out, that of a small eight-year-old boy. The head was twice his size, bulging like a beach ball. One eye was three inches below where it should have been, and the mouth was crooked, drool running down.

Fillyp wasn't sure how to react. He merely stood still with fright and confusion. The large-headed boy from the dirt mound approached him slowly. He took a few steps toward Fillyp, then stopped.

Another few steps, then stopped again.

They stood there, staring for the longest time. Then another sound came from the dirt mound. The large-headed boy turned, and Fillyp looked as well. From out of the dirt mound came a large, awkward looking animal.

The thing that came from the dirt had two large orbs for eyes, a hard exoskeleton, and one large horn which protruded from its face. It fluttered its wings, shaking off dirt. The thing had to be at least two feet in length, about the size of a small dog. However, if Fillyp was correct, he believed something like this should be no bigger than a beetle, which is what he thought it was (or at least looked like).

The large-headed boy suddenly dropped to all fours, crawling toward the giant beetle. The beetle sat there, watching. A few sparks flew from the beetle's horn, and then it looked directly at Fillyp. Though it had no pupils, something told Fillyp that this thing was looking right at him, right into his soul.

Somehow Fillyp found the courage to move his feet again, and he took the chance to run. Across the stream, up the hill, through the woods and out onto a small road. He never stopped running until he got all the way back to his home town, back to his house, ran up the stairs and into his bedroom, locking the door. Even after the doctors tested him for radiation poisoning, Fillyp would never tell anyone of what he had seen…until it was too late.

**Godzilla X Hedorah X Megalon: Earth Under Siege**

(Tokyo Scientific Research Facility: 9:06 am: May 20th, 1998)

Sho took a sip of his coffee, and winced. Too hot. Not only was his pager not working, but now his tongue would be getting blisters. He smacked his pager down on the desk.

"Burn your tongue again?" Kazuto asked, giving him a concerned look.

"I can't believe it," Sho said. "One satellite screws up, and nearly all pagers in the world have gone out." He shook his head. "Twentieth century technology…and we still can't get it right."

"Good morning folks!" Goro said, bursting into the meeting room. "I'm glad to see you two have been hard at work thinking about the speech."

Kazuto smirked. "At least you waited a couple years before announcing this to the public."

Goro smiled. "You see, she's got a point there Sho. You could learn a thing or two from her positive work ethics." He sipped his coffee, and winced, mumbling something about how the damn coffee maker wasn't working right.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just don't think the Moonstreak is ready for the public to know about its existence. Things were better off just saying that Scotland tends to have 'freak weather accidents,'" Sho said.

"Accidents resulting in miles of ice within one minute? I think that deserves some credit," Goro said, leaning back in his chair.

"I'll give you credit, but only because nobody was hurt," Kazuto said. "However, it took several weeks for the climate shift to return to its normal state in that area. Scotland began dealing with hot flashes and droughts, cold fronts and warm fronts. Heck, I even heard they took one tornado-

"Okay, I get the idea. The weather beam wasn't fully tested. Hey, that's what the last year was for, wasn't it? Just how long do you want to sit around until the world knows about this genius invention?" Goro asked.

Kazuto looked to Sho, who was still staring at his pager. "I hope you've taken into consideration the consequences of letting others know about this 'genius invention,'" Kazuto replied. "Especially when you don't know what hands it might fall into."

"Into the hands of environmentalists, I hope," Sho said.

"_Rich_ environmentalists," Goro said. "That'd certainly put TSRF on the map, wouldn't it? If this thing goes big, you two may be seeing early retirement in a bright and sunny future."

"I hope so, sir. I really do," Sho said.

A knock came at the door, and a young man in spectacles and a lab coat walked in with sheets of paper, which he handed to Goro. "Here you are, sir. Your speech."

Goro smiled. "Good, I'll just look this up tonight and prepare myself for the big day ahead." He got up, walking toward the door. "If you happen to have any free time, I'd like you both to go run some last-minute tests on the weather beam. I'd like to make sure it's ready for our demonstration."

Goro left, and after a minute Sho and Kazuto got up as well, heading down the hall.

"I still don't like any of this," Sho said as they made their way pass two huge double doors. "Sure it helped kill Biollante, sure it's been tested for over a year now, but…"

"You don't think the world's ready," Kazuto said.

Sho nodded.

Pass the double doors, Sho and Kazuto found themselves walking down a catwalk hanging in the middle of a huge, dark stadium. The only source of light were the lamps that lit the catwalk. Down below, nothing was visible for several stories.

"This world is already a mess, Sho," Kazuto said. "If we get this thing out there, maybe someone with the right brains will take it out of Goro's hands and put it to better use."

Sho sighed. "I just don't know. Wars, giant monsters, now this thing. We're really doing our planet more harm than we are saving it."

Kazuto patted his shoulder. "Don't worry just yet. Let's just do our job."

They entered a brightly lit room at the end of the catwalk. This room was fairly large, and oval shaped, shooting up several stories high from the ground level. In the center of the room was a large metallic cylinder with something similar to a camera lens at one end, rainbow colors reflecting off it. Kazuto and Sho walked behind a glass wall where several other scientists and keyboards were lined up. After making their preparations and settings, they charged the weather beam, which was lifted into the air and sent to the roof of the room.

"Charge is finished," one scientist said.

Sho looked to Kazuto, and they both nodded. Sho pressed the button.

(New York City, New York: 2:18 pm: May 21st, 1998)

John stood by the sidewalk, but not too close to the curb. He knew the taxis that drove around here were crazy enough to splash anyone on the sidewalk, even a big-name politician. Okay, soon-to-be big-name politician. He looked up to a skyscraper with one of those huge paper ads across it. His smile was genuine; no pearly whites like the others, no finger sticking up a "thumbs-up." No, John was a true good-all-around American.

His red tie flapped up to his face as the wind picked up. It was surprisingly windy on a sunny day like this. Looking to his left, pulling the hair out of his face, he saw a man with a briefcase walking his way, nodding to him. This was his cue to take the next taxi that pulled up. Without even holding his hand out, the taxi came to a surprisingly slow halt, the back door opening for him. He got in. A bald, middle-aged man was smiling a big goofy grin at him, holding out a hand.

"Great to meet you, John," he said.

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Delaney," John said, giving his honest closed-mouth smile.

"Taxi driver, take us around once and back to this spot," Delaney said, handing out a wad of money, which the taxi driver took without hesitation. "We're going to make a trip around once before we pick up Kenji, so we can look less suspicious you know."

John raised an eyebrow. "Suspicious? What exactly is this you were wanting to show me, Delaney? And who's Kenji? The guy I saw on the street?"

Delaney nodded. "He's the one you want to see, actually. I just run the company who owns the cameras and equipment."

They went around the block once, and stopped at the exact same spot. The car opened, and a third passenger got in. It was the man with the briefcase. "Nice to meet you, John. Kenji Horoshi. Glad to see you were so interested in our work."

John smiled, though he was uncertain of what he had gotten himself into. All he wanted to do was help in the fight against the continuation of sludge dumping off the coast of this beautiful city, but apparently he was getting more than he'd asked for.

After about twenty minutes of driving, the taxi came to a halt at what appeared to be an old abandoned warehouse by the docks. John was growing more and more uncomfortable by the shadiness of all this.

"Sorry for the shadiness, John," Kenji said. "We just have to make sure we're somewhere isolated. This is pretty top secret information. Military business only. You should be lucky you're getting what we have to offer."

"What exactly is it?" John asked. "You said that whatever it is it'll help me in the debates. So is this going to eventually be a public thing?"

"John, you have to understand. We give a lot of respect to you for what you want to do for the fine city of New York. We believe you have good morals and ideas, and this is merely for your insight, if for nothing else. If you choose not to make it public it is up to your choice."

"I thought this was top secret…"

"Oh it is. But they're giving you an option."

"The military?"

"Yes, John. The military."

They entered the warehouse, which was brightly lit with several people running around. In the center of the warehouse was a large submarine, and a much smaller one next to it with mechanical arms.

"Everything you see here is not the secret we want you to know. If you'll come with me please, I'll show you a video taken back in 1989, when the fight was almost won against the sludge dumping in New York City."

They walked underneath a large sign with a picture of a gloved hand under the water, holding up a pile of sludge. It read, "Don't make this the 'soil of America.'"

"Did you know," Kenji was saying, "that Expo '98 started today? Their title is 'Oceans, an Heritage for the Future.' This will be the International year of the Oceans, and rightfully so."

Kenji turned to John. "This is just the beginning. We're hoping to merge with GDF or EPA within the next year or so."

"GDF?" John asked as he took a seat in a small television editing room.

"Yes, Global Defense Force. Apparently it's the next step for the United Nations in 'preserving the Earth for a better future.' Top military stuff."

Kenji took the seat next to John, and Delaney whipped out a VHS tape from his suit. "This video was taken on an expedition back in '89 by the leader of the expedition Kaito Horoshi."

The lights went out, and the only light in the room emitted from the small TV screen. All was a darkish blue, with fine grains floating pass the camera's lens. The ocean floor was covered in gray and blue sand.

"That's not sand," Delaney said. "That's sludge alright."

The video continued, and a gloved hand reached down to grab at the dirt, pulling up a pile of mucky blue mud. It was the same picture from the sign they had just walked passed. The hand dropped the sludge and the camera jerked, spinning around.

"Watch closely, in the right corner of the screen," Delaney said, pointing.

John leaned in for a better look. Beyond the visible ocean floor, something was moving very slowly. As it approached the range of the camera's underwater light, it appeared as if the ground itself was moving, a giant hump of sludge moving forward.

It stopped, then raised up a foot or two from the ground. Something opened in the sludge, revealing a red and yellow inside. Then there was a quick jerk as the sludge flew toward the camera, and the camera toppled. Sludge came falling down, this way and that. The dust settled, and just out of the corner of the screen the sludge was moving again, very fast and in jerky motions.

The tape came to an end.

John didn't know what to say, but he knew he was shaken.

"What the hell was-

"Kaito died for this video. His message has not gone unheard," Delaney said.

"And I have not stopped fighting for him, for my brother," Kenji said.

John swallowed hard. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Things will get better. That's where we hope you come in."

John was puzzled. "Do you want me to announce this? Are you sure the military doesn't want to deal with this themselves?"

"They believe, as well as I do, that it would best announced coming from you. We believe in you, John. The people will listen to you better than they would the military."

John laughed. "And they want good ol' Bill to tell his country that he did not sleep with that woman, but he did sleep with the Roswell aliens? I just don't know if I'm cut out for causing a major crisis."

Kenji chuckled. "Crisis? Have you not been to Tokyo lately? I think the whole world knows what kind of crisis this would be."

"What exactly do you mean? What was that thing anyway?"

Several miles away from the dock, a large cargo ship began dumping the sewage from that morning's load into the murky water. One of the workers was making his way through the sewage mounds to the front of the ship. Everywhere he looked were towering piles of garbage, seagulls perched at the tops. He looked over the ship's edge to the water below. There were bottles here, napkins and paper there. The place was teeming with filth. That, and something else.

Something moved in the water out of the corner of his eye. The worker turned quick, and noticed something black dive down from the water's surface. He continued watching, but there was nothing that followed.

Turning around, he continued making his way to the front of the ship. After just a few steps, however, he heard a large splash, and felt the ship lean slightly. When he turned around, his mouth dropped and he froze in horror.

Another worker heard the scream, and looked down the ship's length. Something large and black flipped itself off the ship's edge and tumbled into the sea. The search for their lost worker would prove useless. That man was never found again.

Part II coming up soon! Hope it's good so far.


	2. Earth Under Siege Part II

(Tokyo, Japan: 11:22 am: May 22nd, 1998)

Miki Saegusa had gotten up surprisingly early for a Saturday morning. However, she wanted desperately to go out to the harbor, to the place where she last saw her baby, Junior. The waves crashed softly from the height Miki stood, just at the top of a hill overlooking the beach. She welcomed the coming breeze from the ocean with open arms, taking in the world around her.

Suddenly Miki was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness. Out beyond the ocean, maybe hundreds of miles away, Godzilla was out there. Whether he was happy or not, Miki could not tell, but she knew that he had faced several battles since their last visit.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. A tear rolled down her cheek as she wondered where her Junior was right now. Was he happy? Was he sad? Perhaps he was just lonely. Whatever it was, Miki felt it. She felt deep inside some great unhappiness, and could link nothing with it at that moment.

The night before, Miki had experienced a terrible nightmare. In it, she found herself alone and terrified at the bottom of some dark void. The emotions she had felt weren't necessarily that of fear, nor were they any kind of sadness. In the void she felt absolutely nothing. No emotion, no order. Around her was an invisible chaos.

Then she felt a tug at her insides, and opened her eyes to discover that her beloved city was burning, the sky blacker than night. She heard screaming and running, and an explosion here or there. The only source of light came from the fires which licked up the sides of buildings and down streets. Something monstrous and towering above the buildings slowly glided over the city, smothering some and letting others continue to burn. When she saw this, she heard a familiar cry, and turned to see what she thought was Godzilla, though he seemed helpless as the large mass hovering across the city approached closer.

Not only was she being plagued by horrible nightmares, but Miki usually awoke to experience some strange shape burned into her retina. Wherever she would look, there would be a pattern in front of her eyes similar to butterfly wings. The image would remain for only a few minutes, and then it would fade away.

Now here she was, out by the beach to relax, and she was getting those feelings again. She held one hand to her head, trying to calm herself. She sat down. The grass moved slightly from the breeze, and Miki began to grow cold._ What were those images?_ she thought as she watched the waves roll in.

That's when she heard something from behind her, something rustling in the grass. Before even turning around, she knew what it was. Now she realized what the butterfly meant.

"Hello Miki," cried two tiny girls, no bigger than half a foot. "We've been looking for you for quite some time."

"The Cosmos," Miki said with a smile. "It's been so long, but…why are you here?"

The twins looked to each other with a look of concern. "Miki, something terrible is going to happen. Very soon."

Miki crouched down to listen better, and also to shield the tiny women from the breeze (which to them must have felt like a hurricane). "Something terrible is always happening, though. Just look at the last decade."

The Cosmos shook their heads. "No. Something much worse than monsters. We know bad things happen to this city, but soon the whole world will feel pain. Earth is about to feel pain."

"Why? What is going to happen?"

Just then, a horn blasted from the city of Tokyo as a couple hundred people gathered to the center where the head of the Tokyo Scientific Research Facility was about to make the announcement of a breakthrough in technology. Miki looked toward the city. So did the Cosmos.

"We will tell you soon. For now, you must go."

Miki was growing frustrated. "I can stay and listen. I'm sure nothing important is going on down there."

"Oh, but it is," the twins said. "This is all part of what is yet to come. You must go and listen."

Miki stood up as the twins hovered slightly in the air. "Soon, Miki…" they said as a green light swirled around them. "…Everything will fall into place."

With a flash they were gone, and Miki once again saw the image of a butterfly in her eyes. When it passed, she left the beach and headed into Tokyo for the big announcement.

Camera bulbs exploded from all sides as Goro walked up to the podium. He shook hands with the Prime Minister of Tokyo, and looked behind him for Sho and Kazuto. They stood obediently at the bottom of the stage, surrounded by body guards to keep off reporters.

"Security sure has been stepped up a notch for TSRF, hasn't it?" Sho asked.

Kazuto nodded, watching as Goro gathered his papers and his thoughts for the speech. "He's certainly confident."

"Well as far as we know, the weather beam works fine. Now we just sit back and see what happens," Sho said.

The crowd's applause died down as Goro prepared to speak. Noon sharp. That was his cue.

Goro rested his hands on the podium. "Citizens of Tokyo!" he boomed. He wasn't expecting the microphones to be on so high. "At the Tokyo Scientific Research Facility, it has been our duty and our law that we pursue answers for the future. As it is with science, we continue to delve into the recesses of the unknown, push the envelope a little further. Ladies and gentlemen, that envelope is about to be opened."

A curtain fell from behind to reveal the giant poster of a space station with what looked like a large telescope at the bottom.

"We as a team at the facility have discovered something that will not only revolutionize the way we handle our planet, it will give us the chance to become closer with mother nature than we've ever thought possible. I give you…_Gaea I!_"

"What happened to the Moonstreak?" Sho asked.

"New ship, new name," Kazuto replied.

A reporter raised his hand. "What exactly does this '_Gaea'_ do?"

Goro cleared his throat. "The _Gaea I _will bring an end to one of the greatest threats our planet faces at the moment. Global warming. With this machine, this gift in the heavens, we at TSRF can control the space station via satellite, and can direct and aim at any location in the world. Once we've made our mark, we fire a climate-altering beam which will drastically change the location to best suit its environment…the way it _should_ be."

Another reporter raised her hand. "When will the space station be used?"

"I'm glad you asked. The first example will be broadcasted worldwide at 5 o' clock this afternoon. Our target will be the Greenland, and I promise you…there will be no other sight quite like this. This moment will go down in history as a leap for mankind, and a step forward to a brighter future."

The crowd applauded before heading out to their homes, where they would witness the television event of the decade.

(Greenland: 3:00 am: May 22nd, 2008)

Underneath the parka, Eric could feel his nose burning from the intense cold. From where he was stranding he could see out across the valley of ice. All was quiet and dark. They were near the edge of this frozen chunk of land, where the ice had begun to break apart and branch off into little rivers, melting away thousands of years of history. Here he was, up at three in the morning, trying to pack everything up and head out because of an emergency evacuation for their team. Apparently

"Can you believe it?" Eric said as another man in parka approached, carrying metal tubes and sacks over his shoulder.

"Yes, I can Eric. And they're only going to keep pushing us to get out of here, so we better take these samples now."

The other man, apparently the professor, was slightly older, and was heaving as he brought up the front while several students followed behind.

"I can't wait to get these samples back to the university!" a girl said.

"Me neither," the professor said. "Think of all the history in here. This sheet has been around since before the Civil War, since before homo sapiens ever crossed to the Americas." He turned to Eric. "And this sheet may be gone within the next ten years." He held out a cylinder filled with ice.

"Listen up!" the professor said. "We have exactly four hours to be out on the boat. As you all know, this site has been 'targeted' by a new satellite built in Tokyo, specifically designed for 'weather-altering' purposes, whatever that means. We may not be watching it from our TV screens, but we will get front row seats."

Eric felt very nervous about the whole thing. He didn't like the idea of a beam shooting down from outer space and hitting Greenland. All he wanted to do was go home.

Before they left for the boat, everyone sat around for a few minutes while the professor made sure nothing was left behind. Eric joined two of his colleagues and walked out to one of the miniature canyons where the ice was melting away. They stood there, watching as giant chunks of ice the size of houses fell into the ocean, traveling slowly downstream and into the night. The three of them continued down to the water's edge for a better look.

"It's beautiful," said a female colleague. She traced the path of ice floating away with her finger. Eri3c noticed the how the water was a very bright blue over where the river met the ice.

The male colleague nodded. "It's all very beautiful, yet very sad. I'd hate to see all this melt away, never coming back. We're witnessing history in the making right here!"

He continued to talk to the girl, while Eric walked over to a wall of ice that was glowing bright blue. After studying it, almost mesmerized by its beauty for several minutes, he blinked. Something was in the ice. Or was it just his imagination? The ice seemed frail, very transparent. Either he was going crazy, or he was looking at something very large and bulky deep inside the wall of ice. Since it was still dark outside and the image was blurred, he couldn't make out what it was, or how large it was. All he knew is that he wanted to get out of here.

"Eric! What're you doing?" the male colleague yelled.

Eric stood there for a moment, but then gathered his senses and walked back to them.

"Just a few hours, and this place will all be frozen up again," the female colleague said.

"Yes, and new layers of ice will be added. I really hope this proves to work," the male colleague said.

Eric wasn't really paying attention. He kept staring back at that wall of ice which held a mystery beyond his imagination. Soon he would find out what it was.

A few hours had passed and everyone had packed up, ready to start their journey back to the United States of America. Eric and the others followed their professor as they headed to the dock. Once everyone was aboard, the ship started its course, traveling away from the barren arctic land. The sun began to rise, and the ship's crew gathered at the edge, waiting for the spectacle of _Gaea_ to begin.

Part III coming up tomorrow


	3. Earth Under Siege Part III

(Bila Tserkva, Ukraine: 11:02 am: May 22nd, 1998)

Fillyp sat down and had his perogies and potatoes in front of the TV, waiting for the breaking news event. _Gaea I_ was about to launch its weather beam onto Greenland, freezing part of the country down a couple more degrees Fahrenheit.

Though his apartment looked small, he actually lived in the nicer part of town. He had just moved in several months ago, so the place was still clustered with boxes of books and other necessities for school. At twenty-one, everyone thought Fillyp would be glad to live out on his own. They didn't know that he was overcome by a great deal of loneliness.

The tiny TV showed an aerial shot of Greenland, and switched to a satellite image. All the headlines had read, _Gaea Saves Planet Earth_ and talked about how a satellite was going to stop global warming once and for all. A satellite? It sounded pretty crazy to Fillyp, but he was willing to give it a shot.

"The launch has begun," the anchorman said. "The beam will be fired in T-minus ten, nine, eight…"

(Greenland: 6:59 am: May 22nd, 1998)

A fine morning mist brushed against Eric's face. Something didn't feel right. The wind was changing course and the clouds were swirling overhead.

"It's going to be one hell of a sight," his professor said.

The boat began to rock, the waves began to crash, and the clouds parted just above Greenland.

(Bila Tserkva, Ukraine: 11:04 am: May 22nd, 1998)

Fillyp nearly dropped his perogies. His mouth dropped as he watched the edges of Greenland freeze over slowly, ice creeping down into the water like frost gathering on a window. The aerial shot from the helicopter became jerky, and then suddenly went off.

Fillyp blinked. What just happened?

A befuddled anchorman came on. "Well, it seems we've lost contact momentarily from our chopper. Should be alright, though. I'm sure the weather is just a bit chilly is all."

(Greenland: 7:03 am: May 22nd, 1998)

A vibration shook the ocean and carried its current to the boat, which nearly top-sided. Eric felt his head. No blood. He got up and looked out to the sea. Below the boat there were scattered sheets of ice here and there. The ice stretched all the way down to the mainland.

He looked around to see if everyone else was alright, but he was knocked off his feet once again as another tremor came. He looked up, and noticed that the clouds were still swirling. Wasn't the beam gone? Wasn't it over?

To his left he heard a helicopter. He turned and saw one spinning out of control. The blades slowed down, probably from the cold. Then the chopper fell straight down, hitting the water with a crash. Eric could only hope it was a quick death.

"Help!" somebody cried. Eric turned and saw a girl hanging off the edge of the boat by one hand. He ran over and nearly slid off the boat himself, grabbing for her hand. He managed to pull her back onto the boat, which was trying to maintain its balance in the violent waters.

"Thank you," she gasped. "I hope everyone else is ok. I didn't see anyone go overboard."

Eric couldn't say anything. He was still watching the clouds, which were now spiraling at an alarming pace.

"We have to go!" shouted one of the crew members as he ran along deck. "Captain! We have to leave NOW!"

The boat spun around, heading at full speed to get away from Greenland, which now had a vortex of stormy clouds sitting above it. The clouds continued this way until finally the clouds reached down from the sky, snaking to the earth below.

"A tornado…" Eric said.

(Bila Tserkva, Ukraine: 11:15 am: May 22nd, 1998)

The TV had not mentioned any more about the weather beam. They had moved on to smaller news business like petty theft in the outskirts of the city. Fillyp was in the kitchen washing his dishes and trying to think about what homework he would procrastinate from doing that night.

The dishes began to shake, then the fridge and the cabinets. Soon the entire kitchen was shaking and it only grew worse. Panicking and not knowing where to run, Fillyp ducked to the floor. The earthquake lasted for about half a minute, then stopped. He got up slowly, walking into the living room to sit in the chair.

"This just in," the anchorman said. "It seems a slight tremor has made its way across the Atlantic and into Europe, rocking the entire East coast all the way to Russia. The tremor might be a result from TSRF's space station _Gaea I_, which moments ago launched a climate-changing beam down to the country of Greenland. So far the tremor has caused no serious damage, but people are being advised to stay in their homes in case another starts up."

(Chernobyl, Ukraine: 11:17 am: May 22nd, 1998)

The tremor passed. It shook the gray, abandoned buildings, chipping off pieces here and there. The flimsy trees quivered. A building toppled over onto another. After twenty seconds or so, it passed. All was quiet again.

That is, all except what lay beneath the ground. In a small patch of woods, where once life flourished green and lush, the dead trees shook. Then they stopped. Shook again. Something was moving underground. Nearly a mile below the surface, a beast was waking from its slumber. After a long hibernation, this tremor had worked as its alarm clock. The thing twitched its lanky limbs, jerked its head, fluttered its wings. Then it began to burrow…

(New York City, New York: 3:15 am: May 22nd, 1998)

John rubbed his face, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. A heavy rainfall crashed against the window to his apartment, which had a view looking out over the city, all the way to the World Trade Center. Lightning struck down on the city.

He turned away from the window, facing his living room. Kenji sat in a chair just a few feet away, staring right at him.

"That was something, wasn't it?" John said.

Kenji nodded. "I can only begin to imagine what must be going on in Greenland right now."

John shook his head. "It's like this whole god-damn world is falling apart. All around us."

"There's still time to make a change, John."

John stared at Kenji for a moment. Then said, "You're right. I'm going through with it."

"You are?" Kenji said, almost getting out of his seat.

"Yes. Whether I become mayor of this city or not, Americans need to know…the _world_ needs to know what's going on here." He paced the room, then sat back down again. "You know, you sound a lot like a friend of mine."

"Who's that?" Kenji asked.

"His name's Al. Big environmentalist guy. I think he wants to run for presidency. At least I told him he should."

"John," Kenji said. "If you're going to do this speech, you need to know all about what you're up against."

"What exactly am I up against?"

"Hedorah."

John raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"That thing from the video. The sludge monster. It's name is Hedorah."

"Hedorah?"

"It's Japanese for _sludge, vomit_, or _chemical ooze._"

John rubbed his face again. He chuckled, then looked up at Kenji. Kenji was not chuckling.

"Look, I'm sorry. This is just all really hard for me to handle right now, at three o' clock in the morning."

Kenji reached into his briefcase, pulling out another file. "Here," he said, handing it to John. "This is everything you need to know about what you're 'dealing with.' Maybe then things will be easier to handle."

John laughed. "I'm sure things won't get any easier from here."

As he looked through the files, Kenji continued to talk.

"Back when the expedition was started, and my brother Kaito set out on a course to check the toxic levels of waste in the bay just a few miles from here, he said it was beyond belief. Everything he had expected was turned upside down. There was life! The entire ocean floor was teeming with organisms of all different shapes and sizes. Crabs, fish, sea urchins, sea snails, octopi, jelly fish, you name it they had it."

John looked at a couple of photos from the file which showed sea life of all sorts swimming around a black ocean floor. He smirked.

"I know," Kenji said, nearly reading his mind. "Amongst all the sewage and filth, life was trying to thrive. Kaito said things seemed weird, but he had no idea until they continued the search."

John looked at another photo, this one containing a large crab the size of a man's stomach.

"Some of the organisms living there had become mutated from all the trash being dumped, and over time caused…some side effects."

Another picture. This one of a dead animal that had a fish-like head with four gangly limbs, a belly with suckers, and a slimy tail. No bigger than a man's leg.

"Oh my god," John said.

Kenji nodded. "That was only the beginning. Every time he took another dive down there, the area used to change. The floor bed seemed to look like different terrain, as if the place were changing its shape. Finally he took a sample of the sludge, and took it back onto the ship. What he found has baffled every scientist who has studied it, and to this day we're still unsure how it's possible."

"That thing from the video?" John asked.

"Right. The sludge was shifting each night, moving around for unexplained reasons. There were no heavy underwater currents, no animals could have done that. The sludge was moving _itself_. I don't know how, but Kaito may have come close to the answer. You see, when he studied his sample under a microscope, he noticed that the sludge was made up of micro-organisms that were moving themselves around, all working like one unit."

"Like a colony, or a swarm," John said.

"Exactly. These organisms or parasites, whatever you want to call them…They were moving all in one pattern, like they all belonged to one brain. The sludge wasn't just a pile of mush that wiggled. No. It moved either one way, or the other way. The pattern was so singular, so direct in its course. Like a school of fish trying to look big against a predator."

John thought back to the image he had seen earlier that day of the hand holding sludge. A shiver went down his spine.

"How it's possible," Kenji said, "I don't know. What I do know is that Kaito kept a logs of his expedition, and from what I've read he seems certain that this theory is true. Every day after that, he would put a camera below the boat to watch the sludge at night. In all that darkness, he could see the sludge moving. First just little pieces, then big ones. Some piles looked like they had limbs. He couldn't be sure."

John raised his hand. "I don't mean to interrupt. I believe everything you're telling me, but how am I supposed to get people to believe any of this? I'm just one man, and this is, well…" He looked down at the pictures. "I'm not sure what this is."

"John," Kenji said. "This situation has gotten worse. Much worse. Somebody on one of the dumping ships went missing earlier today. They've done a search but they haven't found anyone yet. Everything I've just told you started years ago. Whatever took that man overboard, it's a sign that the sea bed is becoming more dangerous. That sludge is evolving, shape shifting. I'm afraid of what it could become if we don't act now."

He got up, walking over to John. "I know you can do this. You have our team on your side, and you have the people of this great city by your side." He put a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time to make a change, and this speech is going to rock all of the globe. When they see what has become of New York, there will be no more waiting. Action will take place. We'll take military action, if it comes to that."

John looked up, his eyes wide.

"Well," Kenji said, swallowing. "I hope it doesn't. Just saying."

John sighed, looking out the window again. The rain distorted the view outside, making the Statue of Liberty appear to jiggle like jello. He looked pass the statue and out to the sea. "Hedorah…" he whispered softly.

Parts IV and V coming up tomorrow


	4. Earth Under Siege Part IV

(Tokyo Scientific Research Facility: 9:25 am: May 23rd, 1998)

Sho folded the newspaper back together, slamming it on the table. "Look at this!" he yelled.

Goro was steaming, his face beet-red.

"Tornadoes? Tornadoes, for god's sake! Why? Because the natural travel of the air currents has been tampered with, Goro. That's why. Everyt-

"Haven't you heard of Chaos Theory?" Goro interrupted.

Sho sighed.

"Life finds a way, and it'll find a way to accept _Gaea_," Goro said.

"No, we're just abusing what's natural," Sho said. "Instead of saving global warming, we're only speeding up the process!"

Goro stood up, pounding his fists on the table. "I had you two check that god-damn machine!"

"We did! The beam was too great, though. It didn't just freeze the land and the sea, Goro. It froze the entire atmosphere. The air was freezing for crying out loud! You froze an entire piece of the earth, and those warm fronts had no other choice but to barge their way through. The whole thing turned out to be a huge mess."

He sat back down. Kazuto, the whole time, had been sitting quietly.

"Now the ice is melting at a faster rate," Sho said. "I even heard the tornado took a few chunks out of the edge of Greenland."

Goro fumed. "If you think it's getting too hot, then get out of the kitchen."

Sho stood up. "I think I will."

Kazuto's jaw dropped. "I uh…"

Goro raised an eyebrow. "Where do you think _you're_ going? You two aren't sold in one package, are you?"

Sho stomped down the hall, making his way toward the exit. "Imbecile…"

Just as he was about to throw open the door, a girl came in.

"Oh," Sho said. "Excuse me."

"Wait!" she said, catching his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I was told I could find a Sho Kobayashi here?"

"That's me," Sho said. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can. I'm Miki Saegusa." They shook hands. "I've been following Godzilla's path for the last several years, and I was told you knew a thing or two about _daikaiju_."

"Well, I do. As of now, I don't work here-

"Oh, that's alright! I'm not here to bug you about _Gaea_, and I'm in no affiliation with the press."

Kazuto came running out. "Sorry, Sho. I had to come catch up with you to see if you were…" She looked to the girl.

"I'm Miki!" she said, holding out a hand. Kazuto didn't shake.

"It's alright, Kaz," Sho said. "She's not with the press."

"I was looking for you too. Kazuto, right?" Miki asked.

Kazuto looked to Sho, then back to Miki. "Yes?"

"Wonderful! The two kaijuologists I've been looking for."

"Um," Sho said. "What exactly did you want?"

"I have to talk to you two in private. It concerns some events that may occur in the next couple of days, some events you will want to take very seriously. Especially if we're talking _kaiju_ and the planet."

Sho and Kazuto looked to each other, then back.

"Are you familiar with Mothra?" Miki asked. "The Cosmos?"

"Oh yes! Mothra was always a curiosity of mine," Kazuto said.

"Would you like to meet her?" Miki asked.

After discussing where to meet, the three of them waited until nightfall. Miki told Sho and Kazuto to meet her at the same spot on the cliff above the beach. The stars were just coming out, and made the high grass sway like the ocean. Kazuto and Sho arrived, and Miki was waiting for them at the edge of the cliff, sitting down.

Miki turned around, smiling. "I'm glad you showed up."

Sho smiled back, though he still felt a little sketchy about the whole thing.

"So what is this all about?" Kazuto asked, getting down to business.

Miki sat up. "Ever since his second attack in 1985, I've been following Godzilla. For some reason, we have a psychic connection-

"Ah!" Sho said, eyes wide. "I know you! You were on TV before."

Miki blushed. "Yes. I'm the psychic."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I thought you'd be less likely to believe anything I'm going to tell you."

"Which is…" Kazuto said.

"Right," Miki said, clearing her throat. "For the past week or so, I've been having strange dreams…. Nightmares, if you will. I felt like something bad was going to happen, involving a major catastrophe. Every time I woke from my dreams, I would see this image, this shape of a moth. Then, when I came here just yesterday to this very spot, the Cosmos came to visit me. I've visited them before! Back when Mothra and Battra had to stop Godzilla about…six years ago? Anyway, they returned. They didn't have good news, either."

"What did they say?" Sho asked.

"They said something terrible was going to happen. Something involving several _daikaiju_, and we wouldn't be able to stop it without the help of Godzilla."

"So…"

"So I have to find Godzilla. But first, they told me I should find you two."

"Right," Kazuto said. "What's this all have to do with us?"

"The Cosmos told me I needed you two, because only you would be able to figure out how to stop what's coming."

"The _daikaiju?_" Sho asked.

"Here," Miki said, leaning down in the grass. "Let them speak for themselves."

Either they were there all along or the two had not been looking, but to their surprise two tiny women had appeared in the grass and were now being lifted, one in each palm, by Miki.

"Hello," the twins said.

Kazuto and Sho didn't know what to do. Some things could be explained, no matter how sci-fi they seemed. But this, this was a much more different experience.

"You must believe Miki," they said. "She speaks the truth. Terrible monsters are about to be unleashed upon the world, and only we can stop them."

"We? But…what do you want _us_ to do?" Kazuto asked.

"It's not what we need you two to do. It's what we need _him_ to do." They pointed to Sho, and everyone looked.

"What? What do I have to do with this?" he asked, bewildered.

"Do you remember Kaito Horoshi?" they asked.

"Of course I do. He was my cousin."

The Cosmos smiled. "You have access to his personal belongings, yes?"

"I suppose so. Though I really think you should talk to his little brother, my cousin Kenji."

The Cosmos smiled again. "Yes! You must call him. He must give you everything he knows about Kaito's work. It will be very essential to helping us stop the monster."

"What monster?" Sho asked.

"Hedorah. The monster that killed Kaito."

Sho was at a loss for words.

"You are very educated in the study of _daikaiju_, Sho," Miki said. "If you can work with your cousin to see what Kaito discovered about this 'Hedorah,' we might be able to put a stop to something terrible before it happens."

"We also request you please never use that weather machine in the sky. Ever again," the Cosmos said.

"I wish I could help with that," Sho said. "However, I think I've been removed from TSRF. I have no control over what they do with that god-awful thing."

The Cosmos frowned.

"I still work there," Kazuto said. "Well…I don't know how much longer, but I can see what I can do."

"Good," Miki said, smiling.

"I do have a question though," Sho said. "You said there were several monsters? Is Godzilla going to do all this alone?"

"No, not at all," the Cosmos said. "That is why we are also looking for Battra."

"Battra?" Kazuto said. "I thought he was dead."

"With Mothra's help, we can revive him. We are setting to find him this very night, which is why we must go now. Do you promise you will help us?"

"Yes…Yes, we will," Sho said.

Kazuto nodded.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind nearly knocked all three of them off their feet, and the Cosmos were surrounded by a glowing green mist.

"Thank you Sho and Kazuto. We will meet again soon," the Cosmos said.

There was a flash of green light, and a green orb flew over Miki's head and off the edge of the cliff. They all turned to look, and a pair of gigantic wings soared upward as the behemoth Mothra flew off into the night, leaving a trail of glittering dust.

(New Haven, Connecticut: 2:35 pm: May 24th, 1998)

Eric made a brisk walk across the green, making his way pass the students who were rushing out of their last class.

"Hey, Eric!" one called out.

Eric waved. "Hey, man."

"Are you going to the chess games tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm kind of in a hurry right now though," Eric said, making his way up the stairs.

He ran down the hall, light pouring in through the windows on the ceiling. He eventually came to a door on his left, and entered.

"Ah, Eric," his old professor from the expedition said, looking at their ice samples. "You'll never believe what I've found in this."

"Professor, I wanted to talk to you about what something."

"As did I. Eric, I've been looking at these samples for a while now. I took them down to the lab on the other side of campus, and they told me that there's radiation in here."

"Radiation?"

"Yes, right here." He pointed to a segment of the ice that had been marked. "It's choc-full of radiation. I don't know why, since it dates back to the Pleistocene epoch. That was just ten thousand years ago!"

Eric blinked.

"I know," the professor said. "It doesn't make any sense. Not only that, but the radiologists don't even know what type of radiation this!" He looked sternly at Eric. "Something is in that ice in Greenland."

"Sir, that's what I've come to tell you," Eric said. "Before we left the other day, I…saw something. In the ice."

The professor's eyes grew wide. "What did you see?"

"It was at the edge, where the ice was breaking off and heading down stream to the ocean. Near this wall of ice, there was this bluish glow. I know it could've been glacial ice, but something seemed unnatural about the glow. Anyway, I went over to it and noticed that the glow further stretched into the ice, and I could barely make out something."

"What did you see?"

"I couldn't see it very well, but whatever it is, it was huge."

"How big we talking here?"

"I mean huge, like a house huge!"

"And you didn't think to tell me…why?"

"Sorry, I just thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"What made you change your mind?"

Eric turned around and grabbed the remote from off the desk, clicking on the television. "This."

It was a news station, and an aerial shot from helicopter of a large ship that was sinking in the middle of the ocean. An anchor woman was talking about the breaking news.

"Just moments ago, the coast guard was called in about an emergency when this tanker was, reportedly 'attacked' by a large 'creature.' The ship's frame has been split in half, one end of the ship already sinking to the bottom of the ocean as we speak."

Eric turned to his professor. "Ok," said the professor, not making the connection.

The anchor woman continued. "A few survivors from the shipwreck reported seeing a giant monster crashing into the ship from the water, and some of the crew members have even become sick, possibly from radiation poisoning. How they got this radiation is unknown so far, and doctors are just as baffled. Having no clue what type of radiation this is, they have no clear antidote at the moment."

Eric turned to his professor again. This time he had nothing to say.

"Well, we have to talk to somebody about this!" Eric said.

"I know," his professor said, thinking. "We have to tell them what you saw! We have to connect the melted ice with this! Perhaps they can find out more about what's going on if they go to the spot you saw it."

Eric thought about this. "What will they do once they get there?"

"I don't know, Eric. What I do know is, TSRF is in a lot of trouble for that satellite of theirs."


	5. Earth Under Siege Part V

(Bila Tserkva, Ukraine: 11:00 am: May 25th, 1998)

Fillyp woke up screaming, throwing off the blankets and looking around. He was drenched in sweat, and was very cold. For several minutes he just sat there, looking around his bedroom. He put his hand to his head, feeling his temperature. It had been years since he'd had that nightmare. Why was it coming back?

Grabbing his robe and slippers and walking into the kitchen, he got a glass of water and tried to relax. That's when he realized why he'd had the nightmare. For the past few days, he'd been thinking about it subconsciously, randomly the memory would pop up in his head from childhood. It was affecting his school performance, and now the nightmares were coming back. There was only one way he could solve this problem, and he planned on solving it that very day.

After packing lightly, Fillyp got in his car and began the drive to Pripyat, his hometown. Along the drive, he began to notice how different the scenery was changing. The houses grew smaller, the colors fading. It was like actually entering the past, where everything was black and white.

Fillyp passed by his old house where he used to live. His parents still lived there, believing that the house was part of them and they couldn't just leave it. He would remember to pay them a visit before going back home.

After a few hours of driving, Fillyp finally parked his car in a dirt field. Several yards ahead lay a ghost town that was all-too-familiar to him…Chernobyl.

(New York City, New York: 11:04 am: May 25th, 1998)

John fixed his tie, dusted off his suit. "How do I look?" he asked, turning to Kenji.

"Like a man who's ready," Kenji said, smiling.

John gulped, beginning his walk to the stage. Here he would get to tell the people of New York his ideals and his beliefs, the reasons they should vote him for their next mayor. However, his original speech was modified a bit, and now he had more important matters to discuss.

The lights directed towards him, everyone went quiet.

"When I look at all of the fine people of New York, I see something more than just another hard-working American. I see people who are starving for a change. You all know, as well as I do, that while there are many tasks at hand that we can fight together, there's one task that goes unseen, un fought.

"Pollution. It's in the air, it's in our oceans. It's even on the sidewalk when you're on your way to work. We may think nothing of it, but that cigarette you toss out the window or the leftover food that just misses making the trash can…it all goes somewhere, and that somewhere is to the cargo ships that are dumping that trash into our oceans. They dump it right across the bay, just outside the city.

"What happened? When did we let this fall upon not only our city, but our country? Folks, you don't need satellite images or a walk out to the bay to see the truth. You don't even need me to tell you. You already know what I'm talking about is true, and knowing is just the first step to solving the problem.

"Now we need to act, we need to fight and clean up our mess. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that once you start something you have to finish it. Good people of New York, we've been concerned and we've started to make a change, but now the time has come to finish what we've started."

There was a massive applause and cheer.

Kenji's phone rang. "Hello?" he said. "Sho! What a surprise! You…what?"

John waited for the applause to die, then he continued. "I don't care if you vote me as mayor or not. What matters is that you know the difference from right and wrong, and that you can see what is clearly wrong with our country. Once you realize that, is when you can start to make things right."

With that, John left the stage and the crowd went wild. Kenji was still on his phone.

"No, I understand. Yes, I'll get those to you soon. I'll do what I can, as quickly as I can. Bye." Kenji hung up, and turned to John. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Kenji. I think what you're doing is a just and righteous thing, but it's not in my place to put fear in the people's eyes. What the world needs right now is a hero, and I'm not going to make them feel like they've completely lost their city."

"But-but…"

"If it comes to the military, then take action. We'll evacuate the city. Otherwise, if this thing can be stopped by the people themselves, then I say let the people do it. Give someone enough spirit and you'll find they can do anything."

John was about to get into a taxi. Kenji chuckled. "You certainly have a way with words," he said.

"I'm not a politician for nothing." John gave him his trademark honest smile as the taxi drove away.

(Pripyat, Ukraine: 3:29 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Fillyp gulped. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. His heart began to pound. What if that little boy with the beach-ball head was still here? What if this place wasn't really dead after all, but teeming with something strange and horrifying?

He looked behind him, making sure nobody or no _thing_ was around. He was the only boy in school who didn't listen to his parents when they had said, "There's no such things as monsters," because Fillyp knew better. There _were_ monsters.

Getting out of the car, he began his walk. The dirt was dry, no grass in sight. The trees were still dead and bare. Hardly anything had changed since he'd last been here. The buildings were empty, or at least looked empty. He didn't plan on going in to find out.

Up ahead was the forest. As he gathered up his courage and walked through, he could feel his heart pounding louder than anything within a quarter mile.

It didn't take long before Fillyp came across an uprooted tree. The soil looked just as fresh as it had been when he was last there. The difference was, there was no tiny white hand that seemed to come from the ground like a zombie. No giant beetle-like creature. He was glad for that.

Fillyp finally sighed. He had done it. His fears had been met, and here he was at the same spot where all had terrified him so long ago. Now maybe he could get some sleep.

The dirt moved. Fillyp looked down, and noticed that the dirt was moving. Here and there around the forest, a large clump of dirt rose and fell, as if the earth itself were breathing. Fillyp's eyes widened, his skin went pale, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He froze.

A couple yards to the left, a tree was uprooted and shot straight into the air, hovering several stories above the ground until finally falling back to Earth. The dirt kicked up, and it looked like a grenade had gone off. An explosion of mud flew everywhere, and something huge came clawing out of the ground. That's exactly what it was, a giant claw.

Fillyp ran, as fast as his legs could carry him. Across the stream, up the hill, and out onto the dirt road which led to his car. Behind him, another claw shot out of the ground, this one spinning wildly kicking up dirt this way and that. A building toppled, and then another. As Fillyp got into his car to start the engine, something long and massive shot straight out of the ground, going up into the sky. It was a spiked horn. The horn of a rhinoceros beetle.

(New York City, New York: 11:45 am: May 25th, 1998)

"Hey, Will!" a man called from the back of the fishing boat. "Reel 'er in!"

Aboard the "King Fisher 5," Will and his buddy Joe were out catching schools of fish with their net, and anything else that turned up. On this morning they had fished awfully close to the dump site.

"I wish these god-damn ships wouldn't dump their shit so close to us," Joe said, walking to the back of the boat to meet Will.

"Maybe we're too close to them, ever thought of that?" Will said.

"Don't be a smart ass."

The crank continued winding in the net, but the pace slowed. Then it came to a halt.

"What the…?" Will tried tugging on the line but it wouldn't budge.

Without warning, the net was pulled further underwater, and the ship tilted, nearly toppling Will overboard. Joe reached out for him, and caught him by the sleeve.

"Damn, that was a close one," Joe said.

A few minutes later they finally got the net on board. The fish were covered in a black, slimy substance.

"What the hell is this?" Joe asked, picking at the sludge on the fish.

"I knew we shouldn't have gotten so close to this dump site," Will mumbled.

The ship rocked for no apparent reason. Both Will and Joe turned to look at the back of the boat. Will went out first, followed by Joe. What they saw made Joe faint.

A pile of sludge, by some unseen force, was moving itself up the side of the ship. There was a great splash, and a huge tower of sludge shot out of the water and flopped onto the deck, wrapping around and tugging. As the boat tilted, more sludge poured onto the ship, and something similar to the shape of a man began to crawl out of the black muck.

All Will could do was keep Joe back inside for safety, and take cautious steps back himself. The man-shaped thing crawled on all fours out of the sludge, then it stood upright on two legs. When it leaned its face up for Will to see, he nearly fainted as well. It was the man who'd gone missing several days ago, the man who went overboard on the cargo ship. He looked different now, with sickly gray skin and rotted flesh, his teeth black and one eye socket missing an eye and instead filled with oozing sludge.

More of the black ooze towered up out of the water, surrounding the ship. Will ran into the captain's room and tried to call the coast guard.

"Help! Help! We have an emergency in the Upper New York Bay!" he yelled.

There was a tapping on the glass, and the sludge man was waiting at the door, a grin on his face. Sludge was covering the deck, the roof, all over the boat. Soon the entire boat was engulfed…and pulled under.

Within the next hour, other boats went missing as well, being attacked by various piles of sludge. Some were attacked by giant swimming black creatures that pummeled into ships, while others were simply tugged under and vanished. The coast guard had no choice but to call for an emergency, keeping everyone out of the waters until the situation could be under control. However, things would only get worse from there. Much worse...

Part VI coming up tomorrow


	6. Earth Under Siege Part VI

(Sea of Japan: 1:56 am: May 26th, 1998)

Miki couldn't believe it. She was holding on for dear life to the fur of a giant winged deity as it soared gracefully over the ocean below. The moon was bright, giving Miki a clear view of the raging waters.

"We're here," the Cosmos said.

Mothra slowed down, hovering just a hundred feet over the ocean.

"You must understand," the Cosmos said, "Battra was created by the planet itself. Nearly ten thousand years ago, an ancient civilization created a climate-controlling device…"

"Like the one now," Miki said.

"Similar," the Cosmos said. "However, Battra was sent by the earth to destroy this device, and attack the human race for what it had done. Once we heard about the new machine you built, we thought it might bring Battra back."

Miki looked down into the ocean. "I don't see any sign of Battra."

"That is why we are here," they said. "We will help give Battra a push."

Mothra began to glow.

"…Back to the land of the living."

Spreading her wings into the air, Mothra brought down a series of rainbow colored rings of light, which went down into the water. As she continued this, the sea began to glow. After a few seconds of this, the ocean began to shake. Bubbles spewed to the surface, and something massive was rising.

"There he is!" Miki cried.

"There he is," the Cosmos said.

A horn broke the surface, and the winged Battra flew out of the sea and up into the sky, feeling the cool night air once again. He screeched with life, fluttering his wings to greet Mothra and thank her for the revival.

"Now we must find Godzilla," the Cosmos said.

Miki nodded, and concentrated all her thoughts on Godzilla. She thought deep, and in the recesses of her mind an image began to appear. It was blurry at first, but then she could see dorsal fins, and a limp body laying on the ocean floor. Godzilla was sleeping somewhere in…

"The Indian ocean!" Miki said.

With that, Mothra and Battra flew off into the night sky, on the hunt for the King.

(Greenland: 3:10 pm: May 25th, 1998)

"This is where you found it?" the man in the parka asked, pointing his flashlight at a cave. The cave, however, was no cave at all. It was the massive hollowed-out section of ice where Eric had seen the blue radioactive giant.

"Yeah, this is the place. It was right in there, I'm sure of it," Eric said.

Eric and his professor had made a quick trip back to their location, joined by the military and several Greenland coast guards. As they ventured into the cave, they put on their gas masks, which they were required to wear for safety precautions.

Once inside, the glowing blue returned. It spread down several yards, where there seemed to be a portion of wall that was solid rock.

As they drew closer, they noticed that there was some sort of hieroglyphics on the stone wall. It showed the image of the sun, and below it the image of a white butterfly facing a black one. Below that, there was an image of a raging ocean and a shark-like creature thrashing about.

"Oh my God," one of the Greenland guards said.

"What?" the professor asked.

"This was the same spot where Battra emerged from back in '92."

"Are you telling me that he's linked to this somehow?"

"I…I don't know, but I do know that Battra was one powerful son of a bitch. Whatever broke free of here, must be just as bad."

Eric looked closely at the ancient paintings. The water monster was painted a deep blue color. A shiver went down his spine.

(New York City, New York: 2:12 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Traffic had been busy as hell, and Sho wasn't sure why. He had gotten the tickets and flew overseas as quickly as possible to reach his cousin Kenji. Somewhere in this crowd, he said he'd be waiting.

A hand popped out among the people, and Sho could see Kenji jumping up and down. They ran to each other, and hugged.

"We'll make time to catch up later," Kenji said, walking quickly with Sho down the street. "You have no idea what's going on down here, do you?"

Sho just shook his head.

"A few hours ago, ships started disappearing in the bay. No explained reason, they just started sinking. Finally the Guard went out to investigate, and sure enough almost every ship was being dragged under by some black substance. They couldn't do anything but try to escape from it themselves. Nobody's been allowed in the bay since. Not one single boat."

They skipped taking a taxi and headed across the street. Just a few blocks to Kenji's place.

"Is it Hedorah?" Sho asked.

Kenji stopped. "How did you know?"

Sho waved it off. "Long story. Let's just get to your place so we can talk more about what the hell is going on."

Twenty minutes later, they walked into Kenji's apartment. Kenji took off his coat, and reached under the bed to pull out several folders. "These are top-secret, Sho," he said, handing them over. "Kaito wanted me to have these, for the record."

Sho looked at the folders. They were the same documents John had seen the previous night.

"Is this everything?" Sho asked.

Kenji nodded. "It's everything."

They turned on the TV. The news was on, and it read _Breaking News_ at the bottom. An anchorman was sitting at his desk, the image of the old Chernobyl power plant in the top corner of the screen.

"Just a few hours ago, a giant monster known only as 'Megalon' appeared at the Chernobyl site in Ukraine. Russian military have been doing all they can to hold the monster back, but to no avail. In the past few hours, Megalon has been rampaging across the country of Ukraine, destroying everything in its path. As of now, we haven't been able to receive an image of what's going on, but in a few moments our camera crew may send us live feedback. More on this breaking story after this." The TV cut to commercial break.

Kenji turned to Sho. "The whole world is going to hell, isn't it?"

"I don't know," Sho said. "Even if it is, we can't focus on that right now."

"You're right."

They folded out the documents on Kenji's bed, while Kenji pulled up some files on his computer. "This is the most I have, but it should be a good starting point," Kenji said.

"We can do this," Sho said.

Kenji nodded, though he really wasn't sure.

(Tokyo Scientific Research Facility: 3:14 am: May 26th, 1998)

The facility looked much different with no light source other than the moonlight. Kazuto made her way pass the security cameras without being detected. After a couple years of working there, she knew about every piece of security there was to find. She dodged the cameras, stepped over the lasers, and snuck toward the control room.

Once inside, the place looked much bigger than she had remembered. There were no flashing lights here and there, no buzzing of computers or busy workers scurrying back and forth.

Kazuto made her way to a room hidden behind the control room, where full access to the satellites could be attained. She walked into the room, shutting the door. After using her ID card to turn on the system, she locked onto _Gaea I_, and began her sabotage.

With one flash drive, she inserted it into the hard drive. A light flickered on the monitor, and her virus was being sent to the satellite. After a minute or so, she took the flash drive out and retraced her steps, making sure to leave no evidence behind.

Once outside, she took a breath of fresh air. She flipped open her cell phone.

"Sho?" she said, walking back to her car. "I did it, the virus is in. That satellite won't be doing anything, at least not for the next few days."

She closed her phone after leaving the message. He hadn't answered, and she was becoming worried. "Miki better know what she's doing."

(Indian Ocean: 11:11 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Mothra and Battra hovered several hundred feet above the sea, while Miki continued concentrating all her thoughts on Godzilla.

"We will help you," the Cosmos said, closing their eyes.

Just then, Miki felt a rush she had never felt before. Her senses heightened, and she felt a tug that brought her mind not only to Godzilla's location, but to his very mind itself. With the Cosmos combined, Miki was telepathically linked to Godzilla.

_Godzilla…wake up,_ Miki thought.

Godzilla stirred, but that was all.

_Baby…_

An eye opened. An ear twitched. Miki smiled.

_Yes, that's it. Remember me. Wake up, little one. Wake up, Baby. You are needed more than ever. You must wake up._

Godzilla stretched, then blinked. Something was different. He could feel the presence of somebody familiar, though he wasn't sure what to make of it.

With all her might, Miki did the best she could to explain to this reptilian beast that the world was in trouble. The Cosmos tried to help, as well as Mothra and Battra. They all tried to help Miki explain to Godzilla what was meant to be done.

As one final resort, Miki tried to bring up the memories of her nightmares involving Godzilla. Perhaps he may understand the dreams better than her.

Godzilla sat up, looking around. He closed his eyes as his brain became one with Miki's. He began to tremble, seeing what Miki had seen. Godzilla was experiencing curiosity and anxiety…and fear. Now he had seen what lie ahead, seen the destruction being done and the suffering of mankind.

Miki was unsure if Godzilla truly understood everything she was saying, but all that passed once she saw the surface boil, and a head reared out of the ocean. Godzilla roared to the twinkling stars above, and thrashed his tail about. He looked up, right at Mothra. Miki was positive that Godzilla was looking right into her eyes, as small as she was to him.

A tear ran down her face. Her baby had returned to his mother, and was willing to take on the deed he faced ahead.

"To think," Miki said, "I once held his head in my arms. Now I'm merely a gnat compared."

"Gnat or not, you are his mother. He remembers," the Cosmos said.

Mothra and Battra began chirping at Godzilla, trying to explain what it was they were doing. Godzilla cocked his head, looking from one to the other. Mothra finally gave off a glowing trail as she flew forward, and Godzilla followed.

"We will take him to our first destination," the Cosmos said.

"Where is that?" Miki asked.

"Chernobyl."

(Pripyat, Ukraine: 8:01 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Five hours ago, Megalon had destroyed all of Chernobyl, and almost all of Pripyat. Now the beast lay dormant, somewhere hidden in the earth's crust.

Breathing heavily, Fillyp watched from a safe distance of a half a mile as Megalon's last burrowing spot was being surrounded by military troops and vehicles. All over his beloved city, buildings had been toppled and demolished, the roads were twisted and thrown this way and that. Piles and clumps of dirt several stories high were scattered for miles. The mighty power of this mutation had gone underestimated, and now there seemed to be no hope for Fillyp's city.

Luckily his family was safe with him, having been evacuated just before Megalon reached their neighborhood. Fillyp had no idea if his house even existed anymore, or if it was now a pile of rubble lay waste to a monster's playground.

There was a gust of wind, and everyone turned to see two large monsters flying over the city. It was Mothra and Battra! Soaring high into the heavens, the two gigantic moths fluttered and flew, interweaving out of the clouds and coming down to Pripyat. The military leaned up to fire, but suddenly an earthquake rocked the ground. Tanks turned their attention to a building that began to shake, and crumble. One horn shot out of the ground, and Megalon came out, shrieking for a battle.

Megalon was no bigger than Mothra or Battra, but was a greenish-black with a brown underbelly. His wings were black and orange, while his limbs were a dark brown. He reared up on four legs, while his two front legs he clawed at the sky with. He looked like a giant rhinoceros beetle with mutated forelimbs. His left arm ended with clawed digits, while the right arm consisted of three digits that were jagged and gray in color. Clamping the right-hand digits together as one, Megalon twisted its wrist one way, then the next. Repeating the pattern, Megalon's wrist began to spin slowly. He clamped his mandibles with hunger and anticipation. His horn began to shoot sparks of lightning.

Mothra and Battra dove down head first, firing their eye and antennae beams. Megalon tried to shield himself, but the beams hit their mark. Megalon fell to the ground, convulsing. He shook his head, then turned to see his winged foes flying up for another dive. Tensing his muscles, a lightning bolt shot out from his horn and hit Battra's wing. Battra shrieked with pain, but didn't go down.

Just as Megalon was about to make the same attack on Mothra, the ground trembled with the weight of something heavy, something monstrous. Megalon turned around to see a new foe, this one much larger and more intimidating.

Godzilla roared his bloodthirsty battle cry, looking Megalon right between the orbs. Megalon got back on all six legs, and charged at Godzilla. Godzilla held his ground, his dorsal fins glowing. He was preparing for a blast of his ray. Megalon shot a bolt of lightning, then another. One missed, the other hit, but Godzilla didn't budge. Just as Megalon was approaching, Godzilla ducked from the lightning bolt and swung his massive tail, hitting Megalon right in the head.

The beetle toppled over, and Godzilla advanced. Mothra and Battra stood by as Godzilla took matters into his own hands. With one foot down, he stomped on Megalon's belly. The beetle screeched, and used all her limbs to grasp Godzilla's foot and throw him off. Godzilla lost balance and fell, while Megalon got back up.

Regaining balance, Megalon and Godzilla found themselves locked hand-in-hand. Godzilla began to squeeze, and crushed Megalon's left hand. In retaliation, Megalon opened her mandibles and spat a red orb at Godzilla's face, which exploded.

Godzilla took a step back, and Megalon used his drill hand and thrusted forward. The drill hit Godzilla in the shoulder, taking out chunks of skin. Godzilla roared in agony, trying to retreat. With one swing of his horn, Megalon hit Godzilla in the head as a comeback for the tail swipe. Godzilla went down.

Building up energy for another lightning bolt, spinning the drill hand, Megalon prepared for a powerful attack. Godzilla, however, had tricks up his own sleeve.

Using his tail, he wrapped it around one of Megalon's fragile legs and pulled, breaking it. Megalon fell, and several lightning bolts shot up into the sky. Godzilla got back up, kicking and punching at Megalon until he got on all six legs and tried retreating. Taking no time to waste, Godzilla's fins began to glow, and so did his mouth. With one intake of breath, Godzilla let out a large atomic ray, which went right for Megalon. Desperately, Megalon used his horn and drill to dig up the dirt and burrow.

There was an explosion of light, and then nothing. Where the beam had hit, there was a hole. Megalon had escaped.

Grunting, Godzilla turned around and headed off.

"Wow," Fillyp said.

The military turned down their attack on Godzilla. None of them had expected, nor ever seen such behavior from the lizard like this.

Mothra flew up into the sky, while Battra sat on the ground below.

"Why is Battra staying?" Miki asked.

"To wait for Megalon's return," the Cosmos said. "He might be needed here."

Mothra passed Godzilla at full speed.

"We must get to New York and find Sho and Kenji," the Cosmos said. "We will meet Godzilla there."


	7. Earth Under Siege Part VII

(New York City, New York: 5:25 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Cars honking, people screaming. The entire city was in chaos to get out of New York. Nobody had issued an evacuation yet, but the constant disappearances of boats, and the sludge that was seen crawling up the shores, was enough of a warning to some. Others merely went back to their homes. There were even a few who went to the bay out of sheer curiosity. The citizens of New York had no idea what lay ahead.

The wind picked up, and everyone looked to the sky as Mothra flew overhead. Everyone pointed and began taking pictures as the giant moth flew over the skyline, passing between twin towers and coming to the roof of a small apartment.

John watched from the window of the hotel room he'd rented for the night. He knew why Mothra was here, and he could only guess that the worse was yet to come. Down below, the busy streets were piled with frightened New Yorkers. Most of them were probably at his speech.

He chugged his whiskey, tears running down his face. His beloved city had no hope, and the military was not taking action yet. He feared it would be too late. Kenji had promised, though. He promised there would be action, and all John could do was sit back and watch. At this point in his life, it didn't matter what prize or medals or honored status he would get in society. All he wanted was for the world to be at peace.

That wouldn't happen. At least not now.

As Mothra landed softly, Miki lowered herself to the roof.

From the roof door came Kenji and Sho. Kenji couldn't get his eyes off the daikaiju that was just feet above his head.

"Glad you could make it," Sho said, smiling.

"I'm glad your flight was safe," Miki said. "You two must have been researching the past few hours, I hope."

"Oh, we have," Sho said, looking over to Kenji who was still fixated on Mothra. Mothra drew a claw down, brushing it by Kenji's head as a greeting. "We've come up with some theories on Hedorah's biological make up, and it might help us determine a weak spot."

"That's good news! But we have to get to the military if we're going to do anything about it," she said.

Sho nodded. "Everything is at Kenji's place on the seventh floor. Let's go get our stuff together and phone the military." He turned to Kenji. "What do you say?"

Kenji looked over. "Yeah," he said. He looked back up at Mothra, mouthed the word "wow," and turned to the door. "Let's get moving, guys!"

John lay the whiskey bottle by his bedstand. He leaned back on the bed, looking at his turned off television screen. His reflection seemed so small compared to the space around him, like a void he was being sucked into and he couldn't escape.

He sighed, waiting for when the sirens would go off and the choppers and jets could be heard flying overhead to attack whatever demonic monstrosity came out of the bay. If something wasn't done soon, well, John didn't know what he would do. He couldn't live with himself if his own beloved city perished, knowing that he hadn't even told his people about the danger they faced.

He opened his dresser drawer. A black 6mm handgun lay on top of the hotel's Holy Bible. He picked it up, the steel was cold. It rested in his left hand as he lay on the bed, waiting for what would come. Waiting to see if, by some chance of a miracle, a ray of hope would shine down.

It took Sho, Kenji and Miki about half an hour to reach command troops, which Kenji was thankful had been sent to New York just in case of an emergency. Kenji made his way to the front, where a general was drinking his coffee in a small tent.

"General," Kenji said, saluting. "I'm here on behalf of the-

"I know why you're here," the general said. "What news do you have? I'll take any, good or bad."

Kenji pulled out a manila folder, and a flash drive. "Here I have enough evidence to give you a field day about what we're dealing with out in the bay, but I think you'd like me to cut the crap and get to point."

The general didn't say anything.

"Well," Kenji continued, "my cousin Sho and I have been doing some heavy collaborating of data from past records of this thing, which we call 'Hedorah.'"

The general raised an eyebrow. "Hedorah?"

"It's Japanese for sludge."

"Ah."

"Yes, so as I was saying, Hedorah is a pile of sludge that has been building up for the past couple decades, and somehow this sludge has taken a life of its own and-

The general raised a hand. "Listen, I don't know why you called us out here but if this has to do with the incident back in the eighties with that brother Kaito of yours…"

"General, this is serious."

"I don't have the time to listen to this."

"You don't have time to waste not listening."

After being escorted away, Kenji didn't know what to do.

"I can't believe he blew you off like that," Miki said in frustration. "Doesn't he know what's going on here could be dangerous?"

"It won't matter soon enough," Kenji said. "One way or another, he's going to have to take our advice. That is, if he wants to save this city."

Sho looked at his watch. "It's getting dark," he said. "Any news on what Hedorah's doing now?"

The sky was growing dark, heavy clouds covering up the sunset. The water had been unnervingly calm for the past hour.

"Mommy, look!" one little boy said, pointing toward the edge of the water. The sludge that had crept up on land was now sliding back into the water. All over the bay, the sludge was receding. People began taking last minute pictures just as the sludge disappeared back into the water.

The woman held her boy close. "I think it's time we go, sweetie." They got into their car and began to drive off.

One man leaned up to get a good look at the bay. "Hey! What's that over by Brooklyn Bridge?" Everyone turned to see something black creeping up the bridge and out of the water.

Little by little, inch by inch, the many were spreading themselves up the bridge and over the road. They had been waiting for orders, and now orders were here. Following their genetic code, the many began to ascend. Banding together, forming into a solid mass, they spiraled up out of the water to taste the air. Like a giant tower of blackness erecting itself from its watery grave, the massive form shot up into the sky. People began to panic as two more towers grew upward from the bay. One leaned out of the water, several stories high, and tilted to one side, wrapping itself around the Brooklyn Bridge. It squeezed, and the bridge fell apart in seconds.

A helicopter flew over the black tower of sludge, but was suddenly swallowed up as the tower leaned and reached out to grab at it, pulling the chopper in. The tower began to broaden, as if taking on an eerily human form. Shoulders began to appear, then split into humongous arms. The head leaned forward, sagging. The other two towers followed the same pattern, and each took on a humanoid shape. The three large black piles of sludge crept toward each other, and fused. They had done it. The many had become One.

Trudging slower than the dead, Hedorah dripped and oozed with acidic muck as he crawled ashore. Hundreds were screaming and running for their lives. Hedorah noticed this, could sense it. He could see without eyes, feel without hands. A shot of sludge spat out from Hedorah's body, knocking down several people and smothering them. They burned alive. Another group of people got into a car to drive away, but Hedorah grew an opening in his side and out poured a pitch-black ooze that leaked down the road and stopped a horde of cars in the parking lot. Nobody could move their cars in the sticky tar, which began burning away the rubber and metal. Anyone in their cars would be cooked inside like a turkey in the oven.

The hunched form of Hedorah leaned up, towering higher and higher in the sky until dwarfing even the twin towers. Hedorah's chest opened to reveal a red and yellow orb, which moved around like an eye. A few tubes truncated out of Hedorah's head and shoulders, and fumes were pouring out. The black gas snaked its way to the clouds, and within minutes the gas had spread over much of the sky, polluting New York City with smog.

His arms split into many arms, which slithered and whipped around like octopus tentacles. They smacked against buildings, wrapped around cars and swallowing them up in its massive form. Hedorah was swallowing everything in sight as it made its way out of the ocean and into the city.

He sprayed a fine green mist to the people below, and their skin began to burn and boil. The mist was acidic, killing anything it came into contact with. Buildings began to peel away their paint, and buildings were cracking and crumbling under the weight of sludge.

Coming up to the Empire State Building, Hedorah grabbed hold of the building and walked right into it, engulfing it with his body. Then, using the building to add more to Hedorah's body mass, the sludge monster ascended itself to the skies, letting out a bone-chilling cry from deep within its core. Hedorah had taken a bite out of the Big Apple.

(Atlantic Ocean: 9:30 pm: May 25th, 1998)

For most of the swim, the waters had been calm. Godzilla was set on his course, his destiny realized. Never had Godzilla been aware of the presence of humans like this since he was only a baby Godzillasaur. Now, after all the mutating and maturing from dinosaur to monster over the years, it was all coming back to him. Godzilla had a purpose, and it filled him with emotions he'd never had before. Pride, dignity, and most importantly and shockingly of all…reason.

The waters grew dark and ghostly as night came. Storm clouds gathered overhead, yet they were strangely black. Godzilla followed the trail of black to his destination, and knew what it meant. If he slowed down any, his destiny would be failed.

Lightning! Thunder! It gave Godzilla the courage to push forward, the lightning bolts striking his fins and sending a surge of power through his body. He roared defiantly at the heavens above, ready for any challenge that awaited.

And a challenge did come.

The waters were no longer calm, but forceful and vicious as they grew to tsunami size. Godzilla felt a rush of water pass his body, as if something large had just swam by. He looked around in confusion.

Several hundred meters away, a fin broke the surface of the water and headed straight toward the King of the monsters. Godzilla saw this, and he leaned down in the water for a better look at his challenger.

Something large and blue was swimming like a torpedo straight at Godzilla. About to blast his atomic ray, the thing sped out of the way and passed Godzilla.

Turning around, Godzilla watched as what looked like a gigantic kitchen knife exploded out of the water, which was attached on the front of an ugly, angler fish-like head. The monster roared and thrashed about, then stared Godzilla in the eyes. A large tail, also flat and sharp like a knife but very slithery in its movement, splashed on the surface. The newcomer was ready for battle.

This was a water daikaiju, and their location only gave this monster the upper hand. As it dived into the water, Godzilla watched its shark fin on its back to see where it was going. Godzilla felt like a sitting duck.

The monster charged forward, opening its mouth and aiming its knife horn for Godzilla's face. Godzilla ducked into the water, but was grabbed by the blue beast. This thing had massive forearms, much like a gorilla's. It clung to Godzilla as it took him for a ride through the violent sea. Squinting, Godzilla picked out where the head was, and saw two tiny eyes staring at Godzilla. He bit down on the monster's throat, and it screamed.

Once free of the monster's grasp, Godzilla began to swim like a monitor lizard after his prey. Under the water, the monster moved like a dolphin, though it looked like the cross between a shark and a gorilla. The thing had short little hind legs, and enormous forearms with what looked like giant fish fins protruding from the elbows, probably to help it with agility. Godzilla was catching up on it, when suddenly the monster slowed down and swiped his tail, cutting Godzilla's face.

Godzilla resurfaced, touching his face where a giant scar ran down. The damn thing had almost cut his eye out. Looking around with one good eye, Godzilla saw his enemy resurface, and then it did something that Godzilla wasn't expecting.

It leaped! Like a frog, it leaped out of the water, stretching its muscular forearms out for Godzilla's throat. Godzilla had no time to react, and the beast grabbed Godzilla and knocked him into the ocean. Swimming and struggling, the two daikaiju sank below until their forms were no longer visible.

The storm passed, and the water grew calm.


	8. Earth Under Siege Part VIII

(New York City, New York: 7:18 pm: May 25th, 1998)

Tanks blasted their cannons, jets fired their missiles, but to no avail. Hedorah only took the fire power and sucked it up, his body of sludge inhaling everything it came in contact with. The ground troops retreated, but didn't make it to safety. Hedorah's sludge came pouring down the streets like an avalanche of black snow, devouring everything.

"General! Nothing's working! We're no match!" the soldier said over the speaker just before a waterfall of sludge came down on him.

Hedorah marched on, ramming into buildings and toppling them over. The sludge he was made of was so hot that it busted every window it touched, pouring into every room, on every floor of every apartment. Rooms and lives were melted away, bodies and inanimate objects alike were being disintegrated and fused with Hedorah's ever-growing body. He continued letting out fumes of smog into the air, which blinded the jets and sent them crashing to the ground. The acid mist ate away at every tank and helicopter.

"Send out the fire department!" one commander yelled, and several tanks came charging through with flamethrowers attached to them. A few helicopters received the code, and followed suit as well, dropping barrels of gasoline all over Hedorah from above.

"That's it boys!" a pilot called out. "Let's show this pile of shit what we're made of!"

The jets careened down into the canyon of skyscrapers, maneuvering around tentacles of sludge that whipped through the air. The pilot dove up into the smog clouds to get away from Hedorah. Once he was out, he turned his jet around and aimed for Hedorah from behind. Just as he was about to fire his missiles, a pile of sludge shot off Hedorah and went right for him. He ducked the jet, barely missing it.

"Whew, that was a close one."

"You need to stop jacking around, Richie," another pilot said.

Richie laughed. "I'm just having some fun with the big fella."

He fired a round of ammo onto Hedorah's head, and it ignited the gasoline. Hedorah convulsed as he was set on fire, but didn't slow down. In fact, he sped his pace, slithering through downtown and leaving piles of burning sludge all over the place. Lunging forward, Hedorah stretched his arms several hundred feet to grasp hold of buildings and bring them down.

As Hedorah continued his mayhem, a distant roar could be heard. Hedorah didn't mind it, and used his body as a blanket to cover a skyscraper and begin eating away at it, becoming stronger and larger.

The roar came again. Hedorah stopped, feeling and seeing for what might be the source of the sound. Whatever it was, it was coming from the bay.

From out of the mucky bay, Hedorah's nemesis was rising. He had traveled far for this, and now he was going to fulfill his duty to the world…to Miki.

Godzilla roared for the epic battle to begin. He stared ahead at the pile of sludge, which seemed to have no features to it, other than the fact that it was humanoid in physical form. Godzilla's legs began to tremble as Hedorah let out his eerie moan, from where Godzilla didn't know, since no mouth seemed to be present. No mouth, no eyes, no nothing. Just a pile of sludge heading right for Godzilla. The closer it got, the bigger it seemed to get. By the time it was within a couple hundred feet of Godzilla, Hedorah had doubled Godzilla in height, leaning over him and dripping hot, bubbling sludge onto his body.

Godzilla's dorsal fins sparked with blue light, and Godzilla did not budge. Hedorah was testing his courage to see if this would be easy prey.

It wouldn't. So be it.

Hedorah brought up one huge arm, swinging it. Godzilla ducked and brought up his tail to hit Hedorah's face. The tail went right through, and Hedorah's face fell apart. The headless Hedorah reformed his head, and turned to Godzilla.

The jet fighters flew in for the fight.

"What do we do?" one of them asked.

"We kick some ass," Richie said, firing at Hedorah.

Two jets went for Godzilla.

"Cease fire on Godzilla," the general called. "I repeat, cease fire! Aim all fire power on Hedorah."

Richie shrugged. "You heard 'im, boys. Give the big lizard a break and lets go for the real bad guy here."

The jets regrouped, firing their missiles all together. Hedorah turned just in time to meet contact with all thirty-some missiles, which pushed Hedorah back a bit.

Godzilla watched as the burning mass of black slime bellowed at him. It threw one arm out to Godzilla, and he fired his atomic ray. The arm broke apart, but Hedorah grew a new one. He shot two arms out, one missing Godzilla and the other hitting him square in the chest. The sludge wrapped around him, squeezing. Godzilla could feel the tightening, the flesh beginning to burn. He used a nuclear pulse, which fried part of the arm and shattered it. Shaking it off, Godzilla fired another atomic ray, knocking Hedorah back, who had shrunken in size from losing the burnt sludge lost in battle. Now Hedorah was no bigger than Godzilla, and was retreating to the waters.

He gathered his energy, and fired one powerful atomic ray, which struck Hedorah and threw him back into the bay. Another ray, then another. Godzilla fired all over the bay, and the sludge burst into flames. The bay was now a sea of fire, and nothing moved.

Godzilla waited, but nothing emerged. He roared with victory, swinging his tail in the air.

"You did it!" Miki shouted, jumping up and down. "I knew you could."

Kenji blinked. Was it really that easy? "It can't be."

"Well," the general said, stepping outside his tent to see that they were all still there. "Looks like we have Godzilla to thank for this one, huh?"

Kenji wasn't paying attention. Something didn't feel right, but he wasn't sure what.

Mothra glided overhead, landing softly in Madison Square. A green ball of light flew over to Miki, and faded to reveal the Cosmos twins. They didn't look happy.

"What is it?" Miki asked.

"Something is coming," the Cosmos said, looking out to where Godzilla was standing.

"What something?" Sho asked. "Is it Megalon?"

The Cosmos shook their heads. "Jyarumu."

"Jyaru…who?" Sho said.

"He was a monster created by an ancient civilization, the same one that Battra destroyed thousands of year ago."

"The ones with the climate-changing machine," Miki added.

"Yes. We thought Battra had defeated Jyarumu, but we were wrong. Now he is after Godzilla."

Godzilla had almost reached the other side of the bay where the sea wasn't burning, when he noticed something coming his direction from the water. A fin. He remembered his last battle and his almost impossible escape from the hands of his watery foe. Apparently he was back for more.

Jyarumu leaped out of the water at a great height, landing with a tremendous thud that shook New York for a mile. On dry land, he looked much more gorilla-like in posture than a shark. He roared and pounded at the ground, his mouth salivating for Godzilla meat.

"Go for this one, too?" a pilot asked.

"If it attacks Godzilla, it's our target," Richie said.

Jyarumu charged on all fours, his head down.

"Yep," Richie said. "That's our target."

The jets opened fire, one missile hitting Jyarumu's eye. The beast faltered, shaking his head. Godzilla took the opportunity to strike, and he charged forward.

Grabbing the knife horn with one hand and Jyarumu's throat with the other, he twisted his neck and squeezed the gills. Jyarumu began to choke, but brought his massive arm up and grabbed hold of Godzilla's head. As a defense mechanism, Jyarumu sprayed a radioactive gas from his gills. The spray surprised Godzilla, giving him a whiff of some strange radioactivity he'd never tasted before.

The radioactivity was poisonous to Godzilla, taking effect immediately. Godzilla fell down, writhing in pain. Jyarumu brought his knife horn down, cutting into Godzilla's tough chest. The cut was deep, though it only hit muscle and some bone. No internal organs seemed to be hit. Still, the pain was great and Godzilla used a nuclear pulse to throw Jyarumu back a few steps.

Getting up, Godzilla whipped his tail at his foe. Jyarumu grabbed the tail, pulling. Godzilla was back on the ground. Now Jyarumu began to pull on the tail and step back into the bay, trying to get Godzilla back into Jyarumu's element.

A second squadron of jets flew in, firing another huge round of missiles and machine gun ammo. Choppers flew in as well, all aimed at Jyarumu. He released his toxic gas, but while it stopped a few jets it couldn't stop the missiles. They burned into his sensitive flesh, which had been unharmed for several thousand years.

Godzilla had grown aggressive during this game of tug-of-war, and now climbed up furiously onto his feet. He spun around, firing an atomic ray at Jyarumu. The beam hit him square in the chest, and Jyarumu reacted with a projectile of vomit.

Kneeling, Jyarumu began to shake from the heavy blow. He seemed badly injured. Or was he?

Jyarumu looked up into Godzilla's eyes, and leaped.

Godzilla reacted quicker this time, firing another atomic ray. This one hit Jyarumu in the face, sending him flying backwards into the remnants of the Brooklyn Bridge.

When he got up, Jyarumu's face was badly burnt, his jaw sagging. Godzilla's fins sparked blue electricity, and he fired one more blast.

The ray was so powerful it knocked Jyarumu's head clean off. The decapitated monster's body stepped back a few feet, then fell into the sea of fire, burning away with the sludge.

Godzilla would have roared, but he was growing tired from the constant fighting.

John watched as the news flashed reports of Godzilla saving the day, destroying Hedorah and an unnamed monster both in a matter of minutes. Images of the fiery bay were enough proof for John. Though his city was burning, so was the monster. He took the 6mm handgun and threw it out the window, watching it as it spiraled its way down to the ground, crashing to the pavement below and shattering into a million pieces.

A piece of sludge fell from the top of the hotel and down to John's balcony. It quivered like a blob of jello, and John shut the glass door, grimacing. He gathered his things and prepared to leave for his apartment, where he could see more of where the battle had taken place.

The army began to fall back, making their way for Madison Square. Godzilla's nerves began to calm. He wanted more than anything to rest now. He closed his eyes.

All Godzilla could hear was the crackle of the fire, and something sloshing around.

He opened his eyes and turned.

Jyarumu's head poked out of the water, covered in black muck. It raised out of the water, slithering up and up. It seemed to have an elongated neck, but it was just the sludge holding it up, making it animated. Jyarumu's jaws moved up and down, biting at the air. It gave out a low roar. How it did this, Godzilla had no idea. All he knew is that this all seemed like a terrible nightmare. This couldn't be happening.

All the sludge in the bay had collected into one giant form, and Hedorah towered over Godzilla at an impressive 400 meters (1,312 feet), nearly four times Godzilla's height, and as high as the top of the mighty Twin Towers.

Godzilla did the only thing he could do. He ran. The hunter had become the hunted.

The general had a look of panic on his face. "This is a code red emergency! I want all tanks and choppers and jets we got! That's an order!" Fuming, he turned to the opening of the tent. Kenji was standing there.

"Alright," the general said. "What've you got?"

Kenji pulled out a file with a picture of sludge from a microscope.

"Those little things you see there are the particles which make up Hedorah. The sludge has been mutated, and over time it has evolved into micro-organisms, which all work as one body. Naturally, like ants and other insects that behave this way, there has to be some source from which these tiny organisms get their orders. Some code."

"Like the queen ant," Sho added.

"Right, and we think we've found our queen."

Kenji pulled out the VHS tape he had shown John almost a week ago. He placed it in the video recorder, and hit play.

"There," Kenji said, hitting pause. "See that?"

The general looked closely, squinting. "You mean that red thing?" he said, pointing at a red spot on Hedorah.

"Right," Kenji said. "When that opened up, Hedorah attacked. It's the only thing, other than the black sludge, that makes up his body."

"You think this is the brain?"

Kenji nodded. "Positive."

"Well where can we find the damn thing? Do you see the size of that?" The general pointed toward the sky. No matter where you were in New York at that time, you could see the colossal form of Hedorah, which was easily visible from Madison Square Park and probably just as visible from miles away. "That's like finding a needle in a haystack…a really _big_ haystack."

"And what about Godzilla?" Miki said, turning to the Cosmos. "He needs help! He can't do this alone."

The Cosmos nodded. "We will call for Battra, and Mothra will join him in the fight."

Together, the Cosmos began to pray, sending out a signal for Battra to come to their aid.

Meanwhile Kenji was deciding on what to say, rubbing his eyes. "To be honest, the only time we've seen it is when it attacks. All we can hope for is that it appears while fighting Godzilla."

The general seemed frustrated by this, but he nodded. It was the least they could do.

"Alright," the general ordered over his walkie talkie. "Send out an order for all aircraft to aim for Hedorah. The weak point is a reddish-yellowish orb that should open at some point from inside the monster.

"It'll most likely appear somewhere around the base, either on the back or the sides or the stomach," the voice came over to Richie. "It'll appear only when Hedorah attacks, so look carefully!"

"Aye aye, Captain," Richie said. "Alright guys, look for a B.A.R.T and take it down."

"B.A.R.T?" one pilot asked.

"Big Ass Red Thing," Richie said. "It's a Wright State joke."

"Ah yes," one pilot chuckled. "_Where dreams take flight_."

"Hey, it's a good school!" Richie said.

The jets buzzed around like flies, passing Godzilla here and there as he snaked his way through the buildings. No matter where he turned, an arm of sludge shot through the buildings, trying to grab at Godzilla. He fired an atomic ray, blasting away the arm, then continued running.

Finally he made his way to the World Trade Center, where Hedorah was ganging on him. As he closed in, ready to devour both Godzilla and the twin towers, Mothra appeared just over the peak of the towers, firing a giant laser from her abdomen (a power she had gained after fighting Death ghidorah in 1996). The wide beam hit Hedorah and knocked him back, giving Godzilla time to join in the beam attack as well. Both Mothra and Godzilla fired their beams, throwing Hedorah further back, until he toppled over several buildings, falling apart into watery sludge.

As Hedorah began to regather itself, Mothra poured a powdery light over Godzilla, which seemed to be strengthening him. The two were ready for combat.

There was a loud roar, and out came Jyarumu's rotting head, slithering out and screaming up into the sky. The head swung viciously at Mothra, cutting her wing with its knife horn.

Godzilla watched as the rest of Jyarumu's body could be seen hovering inside Hedorah, the lanky arms being used at Hedorah's disposal. The arms reached out for Godzilla once again, but Godzilla dodged one, biting into it. The sludge burned his teeth, and he fired his atomic ray, breaking away the arm. Godzilla roared to taunt, urging Hedorah on.

Out flew the second Jyarumu arm, which missed Godzilla and went straight for Mothra. It grabbed Mothra and pulled, tugging her into the sludge. Godzilla reacted quickly, firing a beam that tore apart the arm. An arm of sludge flew out and pinned Godzilla against one of the twin towers, holding him back. Godzilla used his nuclear pulse once more, but it didn't work as effectively. There was so much to Hedorah that he just kept adding on to Godzilla's body until everything was covered except for the head.

The sky was blackening, the only source of light coming from the fires which licked up the sides of buildings and down streets. Godzilla shrieked in fear and pain, while Mothra desperately struggled to escape Hedorah's tug. All seemed lost.

"This was my dream," Miki thought. "It wasn't Japan, it was New York that would fall." A tear came to her eye. All she could do now was watch while Godzilla suffered.

Prism beams shot through the night sky, hitting Hedorah's arm and breaking it apart, thus releasing Mothra. Battra had joined the fight, just in the nick of time. Together, Mothra and Battra dove up to the sky, using their beams to burn away at the smog, then dove back down to attack Hedorah from behind.

Though Hedorah could see and feel things approaching, it was more difficult finding his enemies from the sky. He was not used to this kind of attack. The two moths fired their beams, and shot electric bolts from their wings. They began to fry Hedorah's massive form, but Hedorah quickly reacted by sending up a few tentacles of sludge which whipped around, slicing and swiping at the moths. Battra went down, and crawled to safety. Mothra was hit with a heavy blow, and her wing began to burn.

Godzilla gurgled as the sludge began to cover his face, sliding into his mouth and down his throat. He kept firing nuclear pulses, but they were no use. The jets and choppers overhead were bombing and firing at Hedorah, but merely tickled the slimy behemoth.

Mothra watched in horror and despair. Nothing was working, nothing at all. Even the King of the monsters was falling victim. She looked to Battra. If they didn't act now, soon Godzilla, and the entire city, would fuse with Hedorah. Then nothing could stop him.

Battra nodded, and so did Mothra. They seemed to have come up with an idea, a last resort. All they could hope for was that it would work. Both bodies began to glow, one black and one white. The moths hovered in the air, sparkling dust emanating from them.

"What are they doing?" Miki asked.

The Cosmos seemed just as shocked. "We think it might be something they've never tried before. Yes. Yes, they are going to fulfill an ancient prophecy."

"What prophecy?" Sho asked.

"When the world is burning, and the planet is in its most dire need of salvation, the twin moths will not only work as one, but _become_ one, in order to save Earth."

Sho's eyes grew wide. "What?"

A bright flash of light filled the sky momentarily, and Hedorah turned to face his two attackers. The sky shone bright for a few seconds, and as the shine died down, two enormous wings beat at the air defiantly. From out of the ashes of the glowing Mothra and Battra, emerged one giant moth doubling their size. As big as Godzilla himself, this new moth screeched to the sky, fluttering above Hedorah.

The Cosmos smiled. "They did it. The Gigamoth is born!"

Hedorah let out his moan, and fired a giant sludge arm into the air, aiming at Gigamoth via the sound waves she made. The sludge missed as Gigamoth dodged, then fired beams from her antennae, eyes and mouth. The five beams hit their mark, frying and tearing apart Hedorah's arm.

The tentacles came next, whipping and slicing at Gigamoth. In response, Gigamoth flew into the air, up into the black clouds, then dove back down at an amazing speed, using her wings to cut through the tentacles. They grew back, but Gigamoth only dove again. Hedorah soon grew tired of this, and roared with anger.

"Would ya look at that!" one pilot yelled.

From out of Hedorah's side appeared a small red dot, no bigger than the jets themselves.

"That's B.A.R.T. boys," Richie said. "It's the brain, so aim to kill and we can take this pile of sludge out once and for all!"

One jet dove down, locking his missiles. However, just before he pushed his thumb on the trigger, a sludge tentacle took him out, pulling the plane in and devouring it all.

"DAMN IT!" Richie yelled, punching his fist against the inside of the cockpit. He stared intently at Hedorah, looking closely to see when the red dot would reappear.

Gigamoth screeched, diving and firing her beams. More tentacles were burned away, and then Gigamoth aimed for Hedorah's body. Bit by bit, his body began to solidify and fry. Hedorah began to quiver, and had no choice but to take sludge from the side that was holding Godzilla in order to build up his body again.

As Gigamoth continued the assault, the sludge came away from Godzilla's body. He could breathe again, move his arms again. He waited, and as soon as enough sludge was off, he used his nuclear pulse. The attack threw Hedorah off balance, knocking away the sludge arm that restrained Godzilla. Together, Gigamoth and Godzilla used their beams to attack Hedorah from both sides. Here and there, appendages of sludge were flung around, attacking Godzilla and Gigamoth.

Then, as if realizing the battle was being lost, Hedorah tried something new. He opened two orifices toward his two attackers on either side, and spat out a black ooze which stuck like tar. The ooze burned at Godzilla and Gigamoth, taking Gigamoth to the ground. Once down, Hedorah prepared to send a mountain of sludge onto Gigamoth.

After the attack had been made, the needle revealed itself in the haystack again.

"There you are," Richie said, zipping between skyscrapers.

"Careful, Rich," one pilot said.

Full speed ahead, Richie kept his focus and all his attention on that one little dot. The closer he got, the more it seemed to pulse with life, like a beating heart.

"This one's for my buddies," he said, firing his ammo at a sludge tentacle that tried to knock him down.

"This one's for Godzilla!" he said, spinning past more tentacles and shooting at an ooze-spitting orifice that opened in his direction.

Almost there, just a few more blocks to his target.

"You can do it, Rich," the pilots were shouting. "Go Go Richie!"

His eyes focused, his hand steady on the trigger. "Come on come on come on…"

The jet began to tremble, the red dot opening and growing larger, almost like a giant eye staring right at Richie. He lifted his thumb.

"Say goodnight you son of a bitch."

He fired.

The missiles hit, exploding the red dot inside. A yellow ooze dripped out of Hedorah's side.

"YEEEEHAWWW!" Richie shouted just as a tentacle came up.

The tentacle hit, exploding the jet. One parachute drifted down from the jet, about to land in sludge, when suddenly…

Richie opened his eyes to find himself sitting in his seat, the parachute behind him, resting on a giant green hill. He looked around, and noticed that the ground was tilting, and his chair stumbled out onto a gray floor. Richie unbuckled himself from his seat to see that he was in on top of a building. Godzilla's head moved by, one large eye watching scrutinizing Richie as he passed.

Richie blinked. Had Godzilla just saved him?

Hedorah shook violently, letting out one last moan. Then his entire body went still. Gigamoth flew up into the air. Godzilla approached cautiously. Slowly but surely, the pile of black sludge was beginning to harden and turn gray. The jets, in response to Richie's crash and supposed death, dove in and fired away their missiles, which dug into Hedorah and chipped him apart. Godzilla joined in as well, firing one massive atomic ray which ripped right through Hedorah's lower body, causing the mass to collapse on itself. Within seconds, the unfathomable terror from the bay of New York City had become a heap of gray dust which covered the streets and buildings.

Gigamoth flew up to the air, spreading giant wings and giving a great gust of wind to the dust, which blew it out into the bay. With every giant beat of its wings, Gigamoth blew the remnants of the monster Hedorah into the sky and out to the sea, while at the same time putting out the fires that burned away at several buildings. The city was becoming quiet and still, the sounds of helicopters and tanks and jets fading away as the military retreated.

Godzilla let out a roar of triumph, the day being saved and his duty to Miki fulfilled. Gigamoth joined him in their rejoice. The city was saved, the world was saved, thanks to the King of the Monsters.

"You did it," Miki said softly to no one in particular, as tears rolled down her face. "You did it, my Baby. You saved the world."

The general smiled, giving Kenji and Sho pats on the back. "Looks like our men did it," he said.

"Looks like your brother didn't die in vain," Sho said to Kenji, smiling.

"Looks like I have the King of the Monsters to thank for that," he said, watching Godzilla walk off with Gigamoth.

"He's not a monster though," Miki said. "At least not anymore…not to me."

Although he was several miles away, Godzilla turned to Miki's direction. Now that they were psychically linked, Miki was sure that Godzilla could feel her presence in that direction, even though he could not see her. He let out a soft roar, the kind he used to give when calling for Miki. She began to cry.

As Godzilla headed out to sea, Gigamoth blew away at the black smog above, revealing the natural clouds and the moon, which shone brightly onto the city skyline and the waters of the bay. Godzilla stepped into the water, ready to swim out to wherever the ocean took him.

Turning to a bridge nearby, Godzilla could see a swarm of tiny little people. They were screaming noises at him, though they didn't sound like the noises he'd heard countless times before. No, these were a new sound. Almost…happy. Like, cheering. If he could read or comprehend any sort of human language, Godzilla might have noticed the signs that read "Go Go Godzilla!" and "The King Lives!" Alas, he turned his head to the sea with nothing more than a grunt, and began to sink into the waters, swimming away.

Gigamoth floated down from the sky, and shone brightly before splitting apart. The two bright lights let their glow die down, revealing Mothra and Battra back in their original forms. The people of New York also cheered for them as they flew across the moonlit sky, heading back to Tokyo...

Final Part coming up soon!


	9. Earth Under Siege Ending

(New York City, New York: 10:01 pm: May 27th, 1998)

John stood by the sidewalk, but not too close to the curb. He knew the taxis that drove around here were crazy enough to splash anyone on the sidewalk, even a big-name politician. Okay, environmentalist.

He looked up to a skyscraper with one of those huge paper ads across it. The smile was genuine; no pearly whites like the others, no finger sticking up a "thumbs-up." No, Giuliani was a true good-all-around American.

The wind kicked up, but no tie hit his face this time. He lifted his hand, and a taxi came to an abrupt halt. Just as John was about to get in, somebody grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Sorry I didn't call, John. Hopefully the Air Show made up for it," Kenji said.

John smiled. "It certainly was a beauty to watch."

Together they walked down the sidewalk.

"So tell me," Kenji said, "Now that you're out of the race, what are you going to do?"

"Hmm," John said, thinking. "Maybe go save the rainforest, or go join a picket rally for those guys over in Ukraine. Who knows?" He turned to Kenji. "Maybe I'll just sit on my ass and watch TV and go fishing with my son until I keel over and die."

Kenji smiled. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"It really doesn't." John looked up at Kenji. "What about you? Now that your vigilante days are over…"

"My brother was avenged, yes."

"I'm glad."

"But to answer your question, I really don't know at the moment. I was thinking of sticking around here, actually. It seems GDF hasn't bought our company like they did TSRF, but we can always hope."

They laughed as Kenji led John toward a black Lamborghini.

John whistled. "Not too bad."

Kenji winked. "A little present from the government. Care for a ride?"

"Where you headin?"

"How about a cup o' Joe. It's never too late to try the American lifestyle."

John got in, and they drove off down the busy streets of the Big Apple.

(Tokyo, Japan: 12:05 pm: May 28th, 1998)

Sho and Miki walked up the grassy hill to the very spot they had met, the cliff overlooking the beach and the ocean, which was a vibrant blue that day. The breeze picked up and blew Miki's hair in the wind. She had never felt more at peace within her.

Turning to Sho, she smiled. She was going to say something, but realized she didn't need to say anything at all. They both felt the same happiness.

"Hey," Kazuto called, coming up to them.

Sho turned, grinning. "Thing's worked out, didn't they?" he said.

Kazuto looked furious. "You asshole," she said, walking up to him and staring him right in the face. Then, without warning, she grabbed him by the head and kissed him. Miki, feeling embarrassed, turned to the ocean. After a few seconds had passed, Sho caught his breath.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"For never calling while you were gone," Kazuto said. "And for worrying me to death." They kissed again, though their kiss was interrupted by Kazuto's phone going off.

"Yes?" she answered. "Uhuh….Oh, but…Really? Um." She looked to Sho, a confused look on her face.

"What is it?" he asked.

Kazuto got back to her phone call, and Sho walked over to Miki by the cliff's edge.

"Things look so much brighter now, isn't it funny?" Miki asked, staring out to the sea.

"They sure do, and it sure is."

Kazuto walked over. "Sorry about that, but that was…wow."

"What? Did Goro just fire you? If so, I'm not surprised," Sho said.

"No. TSRF has just been bought."

"Bought? By who?" "The Global Defense Force. Apparently they said they could use _Gaea I _for other necessities."

"What do you mean?" Miki asked.

"I'm not sure," Kazuto said. "Something about using the weather beam as a 'sub-zero cannon' for some project they're working on."

Sho laughed. "Well whatever it is, I bet Goro was fuming."

"Actually, he's really happy! They gave him a fair share of the profits and got him early retirement!" Kazuto said.

"Guess they wanted him out faster than I thought they would," Sho replied.

"Yeah," Kazuto agreed. "They also want us back, Sho. As kaijuologists."

Sho's eyes grew wide.

Kazuto smiled. "Looks like we're back in business."

A trail of green dust glittered across the sky, hovering slowly down to Miki.

"Hello you two," Miki greeted them.

The Cosmos twins appeared, smiling and bowing. "Hello! We are very happy to see you once again. The world is finally at peace, and we have all you to thank," they said, nodding toward Sho and Kazuto as well. Kazuto blushed, squeezing Sho's hand.

"Miki," the Cosmos said, "Mothra and Battra have gone back to their home on Infant Island. As for Godzilla, well…"

Miki nodded. "I understand. You can't find…"

But she looked over the Cosmos, out to the sea. The ground shook as something large was breaking the surface just a couple yards ahead, raising itself out of the water and heading their way.

"…him."

Godzilla came near the edge of the cliff, his head just a little above Miki's level. The things she was feeling were indescribable. She hadn't been this close to Godzilla since he was an infant no bigger than her. Now here they were, just feet from each other. If she could just reach out and…

Miki stroked Godzilla's nose, and a very powerful gust of wind came from his nostrils, nearly knocking Miki to the ground. Godzilla cooed softly, a purring sound. Being in his presence was a breathtaking experience Miki would never forget, for as long as she lived.

Sho and Kazuto stood in awe, watching as Miki seemed to be…_speaking _to Godzilla.

And speaking she was, her mind and Godzilla's linked like never before.

_Thank you, my Baby,_ she thought as she stared into Godzilla's eyes, the reflection of her body in the giant pupils.

_You're welcome, Mother_, Godzilla thought.

Miki blinked, feeling like she'd been splashed with cold water. Had that just happened? Had Godzilla actually _spoken_ to her? Something in his eyes gave Miki the emotion of love and reassurance, and with that, Godzilla turned and went back out to sea.

Miki was at a loss with words, but the Cosmos only smiled. "We thought you might like to say goodbye, that is, until you two meet again," the Cosmos said.

"Th-thank you…" Miki said.

"Until we meet again," Miki said softly, to no one in particular.

Godzilla turned, roaring at them, then disappeared into the waves below.

(Baluchistan, Pakistan: 3:00 pm: May 28th, 1998)

Far off in the Chagai hills of Baluchistan, in reaction to several nuclear tests in India a couple weeks before, Pakistan prepared five nuclear devices of their own. Many miles out of harm's way, cameras were set up to catch footage of the test.

The mountainside was quiet, still. The bare desert landscape seemed dead, perhaps a reason for Pakistan's choice of location for the test. A voice came over the microphone to the man controlling the camera. He nodded, then hit the record button. The camera was rolling.

In just a few seconds, the mountains turned from still to shaky. As if bursting with life, a few layers of earth were blasted from the mountain, creating a fine dust that flew off the mountain and into the air.

Just as he turned off the camera, the man froze. The tests should have been done, so why was the mountain still moving?

Near the base of the Chagai hills, the ground was rumbling. Cracking and splitting. Something large and machine-like could be heard whirring within the mountain, as if something were trying to break out. Then, from out of the earth came a giant spinning drill. Then another. A giant horn broke the surface, and something monstrous came out to the daylight.

Shielding its eyes from the bright sun, the beetle took in all the radioactivity he could muster. The air, the soil…everything was rich with nuclear fallout. He fluttered his wings and bent his two back legs, which had grown much larger than they were just a few days ago. The middle legs were now nearly gone, only used for digging purposes. As for the front arms, they were massive and both supported spinning drills for hands.

The man with the camera couldn't believe his eyes. Rising from the ashes of nuclear energy, the monster roared at the sky with a taste for vengeance. Megalon was born.

The End

For this story, i wanted to revolve around the idea of saving the planet from three man-made problems which are a serious crisis to this day. Originally, the monster to represent global warming was going to be "Gfantis" as some of you may have heard of him before. However, the idea of using a daikaiju that has always been a protagonist kind of took away from what i wanted, and once i stumbled upon Jyarumu (for stats check out Godzilla Wiki, he's a monster created for the game "Godzilla Trading Battle" only released in Japan), i knew that he was the monster to do the job. I really enjoyed writing this story, and i hope you all enjoyed reading it. Reviews are welcome, if you care to share what you thought!

COMING SOON (or at least sometime in September): Godzilla X Gigan: Millenium


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